The Dragons Depth
by Shananigans10
Summary: Four years after the war a chance encounter has Hermione and Draco forming a friendship. Add in a baby and they get closer in a years' time than either thought imaginable. Harry and Ron are oddly accepting, happy with their own spouses. Narcissa Malfoy is not impressed with Draco's choices, and what about Lucius? Dramione, EWE, OOC characters
1. Chapter 1

A/N- Hi! Just a couple of things - This story is not completed (and I've got about 120982398 stories started) but I realized for all of them that I need feedback from people in order to decide where to go with it. I will post as often as I possibly can! Don't worry! I'll never leave a story abandoned, so have no fear! This story is not beta'd, as my beta has been deployed to Afghanistan and I don't feel right replacing her... so any and all mistakes are my own, and if you see anything major please feel free to point them out! I encourage constructive criticism, as I feel I still have a lot to learn, but please no flames. As of now I don't have any warnings for this story (which is a first), but that could change down the road. Enjoy!

Prologue

It all started extremely early on New Years' Day. Draco Malfoy was in dire search of a hangover potion after everything that happened the night before. He usually kept his flat nicely stocked, but he had been imbibing more often than not recently and was completely out.

He had woken up beside the blonde haired, green-eyed assistant who worked for a colleague in his office, realizing that he had shagged her in his own home after the New Years office party. He presently had absolutely no recollection of the act, and he stared at her with his silver eyes for one horrified moment before rolling from the bed slowly. He padded quietly across the room to his closet, where he grabbed the first clothes hanger his hand had come into contact with and fled to the bathroom.

When Draco was finished washing his misdeeds from his skin in the hottest shower he could handle, he made his way back into his bedroom on stealthy feet… only to find that his bed was empty.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who immediately regretted the choices made the night before. He let out a breath, glad to at least be able to avoid the awkward situation of asking the witch to leave.

Draco swore as he tripped over an icy cobblestone while stumbling down the crooked streets of Diagon Alley, in search of an open apothecary. It was freezing outside, but the cold weather seemed to help his aching head and woozy stomach better than anything else had that morning. Since it was a holiday and the only other people on the street were doing their own versions of a 'walk of shame', all Draco could do was take deep breaths of icy air through his mouth and hope something would be open.

And then it showed itself, a port in the storm, so to speak. It wasn't a large shop, but it looked warm and inviting. A little gust of wind blew and the snow swirled around the sign like a beckoning hand, inviting him in.

"The Cure-A-Torium", Draco mumbled, squinting his eyes in order to read the name above the flashing open sign. He didn't recall seeing the store before but, then again, he didn't spend a whole lot of time in the public areas of the Wizarding World.

Even after four years he was still considered a villain, a death eater, even though he had been cleared of all charges. If he didn't have his father's companies to fall back on he really wasn't sure what he would have done for work, since obviously no one would hire him willingly. He didn't have to work, of course, regardless of the large reparations the Ministry demanded from the Malfoy family vaults, be he needed to work.

He needed to prove himself and he was fairly certain that sitting around doing nothing would make him feel crazy. Since the Ministry hadn't been able to seize any of the family businesses since they were all free of corruption, Draco did the only thing that made sense; worked there.

While the family had plenty of different businesses both in the magical and muggle world, Draco himself worked as potioneer for Concoctions & Consultations, ensuring the businesses that still sold their products were kept stocked. It was a good way for him to stay hidden and to himself while still being able to work and do something useful, but the company he owned itself was huge and much more than just a potion department.

That's why it was so ridiculous that he was currently stumbling through freezing air trying to find a hangover potion.

Draco was also on the board of Concoctions & Consultations, but he mostly left that to the men that had helped his father run the business when Draco was still a carefree boy. He would go to the odd meeting now, trying to learn, but was quite happy where he was at the moment.

Draco took over Concoctions & Consultations almost immediately after his father started his five-year stint in Azkaban. He was charged with a number of things, but Harry Potter – the young man that everyone would listen to without a second thought – admitted that he didn't really believe that Lucius was a willing participant in the second war.

Harry Potter figured if Lucius had been half as terrorized as his son had been then he wasn't there on his own accord, anyway, and Draco wasn't about to change those ideas publicly. His mother had been sentenced to three years of house arrest – again, after a testimony from Harry Potter – and already had her wand back, not that Draco saw her much.

Harry Potter and his friends could believe what they wanted, and if the Malfoy's weren't thrown into prison like the rest of the Death Eaters than even better, but Draco really wanted nothing to do with his parents. As far as he was concerned they'd condemned him to a life of hatred, bigotry, and servitude. That was hard to forgive.

Draco moved out of Malfoy Manor directly after he had been cleared of all charges by the Wizengamot, let go due to the fact that he was an underage wizard during his branding and initiation into the Dark Lord's ranks and the subsequent war.

It didn't stop the glares and hatred he received at the hands of others, though, which left him a little nervous to be tripping his way through Wizarding Britain's hotspot at the moment. That just proved how badly in need of the damn hangover potion he was.

The door chimed merrily as he staggered through, causing him to groan quietly. He really was sick, and there was never a time that he had shagged a witch and could not remember it the day after. Saying he had over imbibed the previous evening was clearly an understatement.

The Cure-A-Torium was bright, seemingly unnaturally so, causing him to squint as he made his way toward the counter. There was no way he was going to try and search through the store himself. Asking the owner seemed like his best bet.

Draco shaded his eyes with a hand as he shuffled forward, his head pounding brutally and his stomach roiling uncontrollably now that he was out of the cool, sharp, winter air.

"Can I help you?" A woman asked cheerily. Her voice was vaguely familiar and Draco squinted his eyes together even more in an attempt to make her out, but everything was blurry.

"Hangover potion, please," he managed to mumble, licking his lips numerous times to try and wet them.

"Two sickles," the woman answered. She sounded like she was getting a kick from his current state, but Draco dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out some loose change. He slapped it on the counter without even bothering to count and waited for the exchange. He needed that potion.

He felt a cool vial slip into his palm and uncorked it with shaking hands, downing it in one go.

It happened almost immediately. First his headache died down and mouth got noticeably less parched. His pupils dilated so the lights weren't so harsh and his stomach settled. His hands stopped shaking and he took a deep, steadying breath, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

"Excellent potion," Draco said, glancing toward the proprietor of the shop for the first time with cleared vision.

"Why, Draco Malfoy, that almost sounded like a compliment!"

Draco almost choked, shocked to see the woman standing before him. He hadn't seen her since his trial in front of the Wizengamot, when she bravely told everyone how Draco had inadvertently saved her by not identifying her to his aunt. How Draco had begged her and her friends to save him from the fiendfyre – she seemed exceptionally skilled at glossing over the uglier parts.

She was grinning at him cheekily as her eyes danced. She looked about the same as always, and other than the fact that she seemed a little too tanned for the season and her freckles were standing out obviously, he could imagine her swinging a book-bag over her shoulder and lecturing everyone in sight.

And she was beautiful.

"I give credit where credit is due, Miss. Granger."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

It was strange for Hermione to see an obviously hungover Draco Malfoy stumble into her shop, but she had decided when she testified for him in front of the Wizengamot that she wasn't going to hold the past against him.

He was a prick, yes, but could she honestly say that she was much better?

She didn't outright bully people, so there was that difference between them, but she had, in fact, bent plenty of rules.

She herself had quite the 'rap sheet' from her school days alone – lighting Snape's poor robes on fire was not the end of it. She would never forget that she had hexed poor Marietta Edgecombe so badly she _still_ couldn't go out without layers of foundation covering her skin, or the fact that she had purposely set up Professor Umbridge to be attacked by centaurs and kept Rita Skeeter trapped in a jar.

So yeah. She wasn't exactly someone that could go about judging others for their bullying and bad behaviour during their teenage years. She was clearly no saint either.

So it was a little awkward when he had entered her shop, handsome as ever, but she got over it quickly and sold him his potion. She didn't fully understand why he was there, since she knew that he himself was a potioneer, but she assumed he had his reasons.

She took his compliment in stride and he left her shop fairly quickly, looking back at her once with a confused look on his face. Once she had closed at the end of the day she went directly to Harry's and Ginny's for New Years Day dinner.

"You'll never guess who showed up in my shop this morning," she said, leaning away from a sticky baby James, who somehow always seemed to be covered in some sort of tacky substance. Her chair at the table was beside the baby's high chair and she really hoped that James wouldn't start throwing food during this meal.

"Merlin?" Ginny asked, heaping food onto a plate and setting it in front of Harry.

"No, obviously Morgan Le Fay, Ginny," Harry responded, a lopsided grin on his lips.

Hermione sighed; her friends really did think they were hilarious.

"Draco Malfoy, actually."

"Really?" Ginny asked in interest, leaning back for a moment. "I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in years."

"Me either," Hermione replied. "He came in for a hangover potion and looked rough."

"Still handsome though?" Ginny asked, looking oddly attentive as she grinned.

"Handsome?" Harry spluttered, gazing at Ginny in wonder as a roasted carrot slipped off the prongs of his fork.

Ginny didn't reply, just wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione, who rolled her eyes in response.

/

Draco continued on with his sad existence of working and drinking alone at night, trying to ignore the fact that he might, actually, have some sort of problem when it came to booze. He hadn't spent any other nights with a woman, and the one woman he had slept with recently was doing her utter best to ignore him completely.

He did happen to see her at work on occasion, unfortunately, but she did an excellent job pretending that he wasn't there. He couldn't blame her, really. No one wanted to admit they had any intimate contact with a Malfoy.

She was no different.

So Draco was shocked when, after an entire month of pretending he didn't exist, Ava stepped into his office quickly and shut the door firmly behind her. He looked up in surprise but schooled it quickly. Hopefully she wasn't here for another go at it, because he was completely uninterested. He didn't want to spend any time with someone who pretended he was invisible - not when she saw him at least once a day.

"I'm pregnant," she grit out before he could offer her a snide remark.

And everything in Draco's life was changed with those two words.

/

Hermione was busy building a shelf for her recently brewed Valentine's day potions, since the "holiday" was fast approaching. Ladies were really into getting potions that would make their skin smooth and hairless, soft as a babies bottom, and conception potions. There was a surprising array of potions in demand for Valentine's Day, and Hermione made sure to provide everything. Except for Love Potions; that was where she drew the line.

She was keeping an eye on the time because she had a new batch of Pepper Up potion brewing in the back room as she struggled with a stupid heart shaped decoration when the bell above the shop door chimed.

She peeked over the half-built shelf and caught her breath when she saw Draco Malfoy standing there looking around.

He was wearing a light blue button down and black slacks with a black cloak fastened at his collarbone. He was tall, 6"4' she would guess, and she could tell he was muscular. Draco's hair had grown out, but it probably only reached the top of his collar.

He was a sight.

But when she lifted her eyes to his face she could tell he was angry.

His eyes were narrowed and dark and his lips were tensed into an almost straight line. His posture was stiff and he was glowering around her store, clearly waiting for her to show herself.

Hermione stood slowly and raised a hand in acknowledgement, "Over here," she said, her voice cheerful.

Draco raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, his cloak whipping about his legs. "I need a pregnancy revealing potion," he bit out, his jaw clenched.

It was Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow. She knew, as well as everyone else, that Astoria Greengrass, who Draco had been betrothed to for a short while, pulled out of the contract when her father destroyed it. It was only after Lucius Malfoy had been sent to Azkaban for war related crimes that the Greengrass family wanted nothing to do with the falling Malfoy one.

Hermione had not heard that Draco was with someone else, not that she paid much attention to such things.

"Do you have them?" Draco asked, his patience running thin while waiting for Hermione to answer him.

"Of course," she answered, snapping herself out of her thoughts and approaching a different shelf. "Right here!"

"Great," Draco snarled, belying his words.

"Forgive me for saying so, but you don't seem too excited about the prospect of becoming a parent."

Draco's mercury eyes narrowed, honing in on her. Hermione almost took a step back but stood her ground, the vial of potion clenched in her hand as she waited for the other foot to drop.

In a split second his attitude changed and he lifted a long fingered hand and rubbed it down his face, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh. Hermione thought he looked incredibly sad in that moment.

"I can't say that I am. Merlin, I hope she's wrong."

Hermione bit her lip, longing flashing through her eyes for less than a second as she thought about parenthood. Harry and Ginny already had a child, as did Ron and Lavender, and she didn't even have a boyfriend.

She watched Draco closely as he pulled his fist from his pocket and dropped a handful of loose change on her countertop – without counting it – and let out another stressed sigh.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Hermione asked carefully as Draco held his hand out for the potion.

Both his eyebrows rose in surprise, his eyes widening slightly.

"I… can't at the moment. I really need to get this potion to her."

He seemed regretful, but Hermione nodded in understanding and passed the vial of potion over, watching as he plucked it from her palm with his elegant fingers.

"Maybe soon then," she said, oddly interested in _this_ Draco Malfoy.

"Keep your fingers crossed for me, Granger," He replied after nodding quickly. "There's no way I can be a father."

Draco walked from the shop quickly and Apparated away from just outside the door, disappearing into thin air. Hermione watched him go with a look of sorrow, knowing that he was very disturbed about possibly being a parent and understanding exactly why.

/

Hermione had not expected to see Draco enter her store only two days after he had bought the pregnancy revealing potion, but there he was. His hands were jammed into his pockets tightly and his dark blond eyebrows were furrowed. His shoulders were hunched up toward his ears and he looked absolutely despondent. Hermione watched him pick his way through the shop until he was standing in front of her, he was biting his lips and Hermione knew what he was going to say before he did.

"Well, she's pregnant," he moaned, and Hermione took a moment to wonder if he didn't have anyone else to talk to. Surely if he did he wouldn't have come back to tell her about major things happening in his life. That thought made her feel very sad for him, and she vowed to herself that if he was going to be friendly, she wouldn't turn him away. "This is the worst thing that could have happened, ever."

Hermione inwardly rolled her eyes at his dramatics but gestured him into her back room. She was working on a new batch of specialized hair potions and couldn't be away from the cauldron for too long - she was trying to invent a better one than Sleakeazy's, which was the only one on the market. Hermione wanted to invent one that was much better; it would take much less product and last much longer, and it would be decently priced and not absurdly expensive.

"What is she going to do?" Hermione asked conversationally as Draco settled onto a stool and dropped his head into his hands. Hermione once again felt that pang of sadness for Draco - she wasn't even his friend and here he was, clearly upset. She also thought that he seemed to be pretty lonely - and maybe she was too, what with her friends always being so busy with their families.

"She's going to keep it and stick around until she gives birth, then she's leaving."

Hermione blinked.

"Leaving?"

"She wants nothing to do with me, Granger, and can you really blame her? My family is nothing anymore, nothing but an embarrassment. She doesn't want to be associated with me."

"So she is going to have a child… and then leave?"

"That's what she said. She seemed to really mean it too. She already made it clear that she doesn't want it."

Hermione wasn't sure what to say to that. She herself didn't understand it, but she also wasn't about to openly judge a girl she knew nothing about.

"She wants to hide in my flat her entire pregnancy. She's already quit her job so no one will know that she's expecting."

"Wow. She's determined to keep it a secret."

"I can't blame her," Draco said again, this time watching as Hermione stirred her cauldron in alternating directions. "I really can't. I'm not even surprised, really. I was more shocked to wake up with her in my bed than anything else."

"It's been four years, Malfoy. Surely you still don't believe everyone is against you?"

Draco sat up and looked at Hermione closely for a second, wondering if she was being serious, before he lowered his eyes to his hands and shook his head.

"I don't need to believe it, Granger. It's shown to me every day. Hell, even on my walk here I had to avoid three different groups of people and ignore more than double the amount of insults."

Hermione looked like she didn't believe him for a moment, and Draco was suddenly annoyed.

"I'm sure you don't notice it, what with all the praise you receive on a daily basis, but you don't have a stain on your arm that constantly reminds you that you're dirt in the eyes of everyone else. That everyone hates you and always will."

Hermione's eyes narrowed as her heart rate picked up, suddenly furious that he would say something so stupid! How could he forget what she had gone through in her short life? Before she could even attempt to control her temper she jumped from her stool, dropping the stirring wand she was using into the cauldron.

"Are you joking me, Malfoy?" She asked incredulously, her voice going up in pitch. "I might not be marked for life in the way that you are, but I will always be a muggleborn! I went through 6 years of schooling hearing how beneath everybody else I am. I fought in a war against horrible, vile people who wanted to completely eradicate people with my blood. I was tortured into unconsciousness and almost handed over to the werewolf Greyback! All because of my bloodline and the fact that I wasn't born to wizarding parents. All because I was dirt in the eyes of everyone else. I think I get it."

Draco sat in silence as Hermione raged at him, feeling disgusted with himself for mere seconds before nodding his head. "You're right, and I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to compare our situations. I came from a high standing place in society and have fallen farther than I could have ever anticipated."

Hermione let out a breath and sat back down, feeling a little guilty about her outburst as her heart slowed back to its regular pace. They sat in silence for a while, Hermione continuing to work on her potion while Draco watched her absentmindedly.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do," Draco groaned suddenly after at least half an hour had passed, dropping his head into his hands again.

Hermione was under the distinct impression that he just wanted to pout.

She let him.

/

Malfoy continued to visit Hermione at her shop, finding comfort with her as he told her stories about Ava, the woman pregnant with his child, and how horrible she was. He came around at least 3 times a week and Hermione found herself, over time, looking forward to his visits. There was something easy about them, and even though she still had Sunday dinner with her friends every week, she didn't see them as much as she used to.

They knew that she was spending time with Draco, as she had kept them informed about what was going on in her life. Ginny seemed almost indecently interested in what she was doing with the wizard, making up ridiculous fantasies about Hermione and Draco being a couple.

Harry always gave them incredulous looks, clearly trying to figure out why Ginny was so fascinated with Hermione's love life, or lack thereof.

Draco was a constant for her, someone who seemed to enjoy spending time with her as she brewed her potions - especially if he needed space from the horrible witch in his flat.

Five months had passed, had flew by really, and Hermione was used to Draco being around. They'd given up calling each other by their surnames over a month ago, and she found herself waiting for him to show up. She loved laughing with him, sharing all sorts of stories with him as she brewed her potions in the back room of her shop.

Draco had quite the stories to tell too, ranging from his (terrible) childhood, to the treatment he received from Ava. The pregnant witch was absolutely horrible to Draco, as far as Hermione could tell, but he was trying his hardest to keep her happy while she was pregnant with his child.

"You should come for dinner one night," he said randomly one day. "You can see her behaviour first hand, just so you know I'm not making everything up or being dramatic. Plus, I want to work on the nursery for Scorpius and I could always use the eyes of a woman there."

"She isn't even going to help you with the nursery?" Hermione asked, annoyed. She couldn't understand why the woman was throwing something as amazing and rewarding as motherhood out the window.

"She doesn't care about the nursery, Hermione. She will never see him in it."

"I'm having dinner with Harry and Ginny tomorrow night, they have some sort of news, so how about Saturday? I can come and help with the nursery around noon and then stay for dinner? Unless that's too much of an imposition?"

"No, no. That would be great, actually."

They were quiet for a while as Hermione bustled around her shop fixing displays and helping customers and Draco sat in the back, taking over the potion Hermione was finishing that evening.

**A/N - I know this chapter feels like it's missing something (especially with the large time jump) but after this that doesn't happen much, so bear with me haha**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

While Hermione had mentioned to her friends that she and Draco had been spending an awful lot of time together in the last months, she had not mentioned anything about Ava and her pregnancy. She had decided that night to break her silence on the matter, wanting to be able to talk about it with her friends.

And if it helped them to accept him even more, what would it hurt?

"Poor bloke," Harry mumbled. "I could not imagine having to go through parenthood alone."

"It'll be tough," Ginny agreed, wrestling 2 year old James into his booster seat. She pushed him up to the table and he started to bang his plastic spoon against the wood merrily, waiting for his meal.

"At least he's got his mum to help out, right?"

Hermione shook her head slowly. "He does not speak to his parents, Harry. Mr. Malfoy is still in Azkaban, anyway."

"Mrs. Malfoy?"

"He has nothing to do with her. He's touchy about it but as far as I could ascertain he resents his parents for the way they raised him."

Harry let out a low whistle, looking at Hermione closely. James giggled and tried to whistle himself, which was really just him spitting all over his empty plate.

"That's some pretty heavy shite, Hermione."

"Heavy shite!" James repeated, causing Ginny to throw her head back and groan.

"He repeats everything, I swear it."

"I know it is, but I like him! He's actually a good guy. He is going to need help, I know that, but honestly I find I don't mind. I'm going to help him with the nursery tomorrow," she admitted.

"Really?!" Ginny asked, suddenly excited. "I saw the cutest design in 'Magical Motherhood' just last week! You said he's having a boy right?"

Hermione couldn't help but to laugh at Ginny's enthusiasm. "Want to show it to me after we're done eating?"

"Of course I do!"

"Shite!" James yelled.

Ginny grimaced again and took James' plate, putting small piles of food onto it. "Anyway, we wanted to meet with you to talk about things _other_ than Draco Malfoy."

Hermione reddened slightly, glancing at Harry before turning back to Ginny, wondering what it was they wanted to tell her.

"What type of things?" She asked, but Ginny waited until the plates were all piled with food and everyone was seated once more before speaking again.

"Harry and I are going to sell Grimmauld Place."

"What?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"It's just… I know that it belonged to Sirius, and I miss him, but I don't know that I want to raise our children here."

Hermione looked around the kitchen objectively, and she wasn't sure if it was just because she had been there so often and stopped paying attention to her surroundings, or if she never actually looked properly at all, but it was… dismal.

"We could renovate it if we were willing to empty our vault completely, but it would be way too expensive. Pretty much the only thing I can actually do with magic is change the paint, but this house just needs too much work."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "It makes sense. Even if you didn't sell it right away, it isn't costing you anything."

"We will stay here while we search for a new home for sure, and then figure it out from there. We told Ron yesterday and he said he'd keep his eyes open for anything that would suit our needs. We all know how often Lavender looks for houses; she hates the flat they're in right now," Ginny added absentmindedly as she watched James pick up mashed potatoes with his fingers and smear them onto his lips.

"James needs a happier place to grow up, I mean no offense to Sirius, not that it was his fault since he was in Azkaban, but this place is a dump. I can't even believe we've been here as long as we have, if I'm being honest."

"Well, I mean… Harry… there are house elf heads on the wall!"

"Stuck there forever too unless we demolish the place," he agreed, nodding.

"Shite!" James yelled again.

"Agreed, buddy."

/

Hermione sat in the Leaky Cauldron the next afternoon, nervously awaiting Draco's arrival so he could apparate them to his flat. He didn't live at the manor anymore, obviously, and she was looking forward to seeing what his flat looked like.

She was sipping from a mug of pumpkin juice when she began to hear angry whispering start from her right. She glanced that way and saw that Draco was standing by the bar, looking around the pub nervously in search for her.

"There's that vile Malfoy boy again," an aged witch at the table beside her said in a scathing voice, not bothering to keep quiet.

"I can't even believe he has the gall to show his face around here," her companion said, shaking her head in disbelief.

Hermione's eyes narrowed before she got to her feet, abandoning her drink and walking purposely up to Draco.

"Ready?" she asked, making sure that people saw her approach him.

The whispering stopped almost immediately.

"Sure, Hermione," Draco said, reaching out to take her by the arm so he could side-along her to his place.

Hermione looked around the pub with narrowed eyes at all the patrons who were staring her way, shocked to see her willingly disappear with the Malfoy heir.

They rematerialized in a small room with an elevator on one side and a door on the other. There was a small round table in the middle of the tiny room that had a singular flower in it - a Calla Lily, Hermione noted almost immediately.

"Of course you live in a penthouse," she said, with a roll of her eyes, turning to him.

"Of course," he agreed amicably, leading her across the landing and opening the door to his flat.

It was huge.

The entryway was bigger than Hermione's kitchen alone, and there was a nice seating area to left. Hermione put her purse on a small table and kicked off her shoes, lining them up against the wall neatly.

"I'll give you a quick tour," Draco said, removing his cloak and hanging it up in a closet to the right of the door.

Hermione followed Draco through the sitting area and into a decent sized kitchen with an eat in dining area. He showed her through a family room, to the main bathroom, and then started leading her down a hallway.

"This is where Ava is staying right now," he said with a small grimace, gesturing to a closed door, but passing by it quickly. He gestured to the door across the hall from the room Ava was occupying. "Then I was thinking this room for the nursery."

It was big, but not too big, and Hermione could definitely see making it a space for a baby. She sighed in excitement, turning around in the room while deciding where the best place to put things would be.

"I love it," she said honestly, and looked back to Draco to see he was watching her with a small smile on his face.

He tipped his head toward the door and continued with the tour, showing her his room last, which was at the end of the hall and was bigger than Hermione's entire flat. It had a huge walk in closet and it's own ensuite bathroom that had both a soaker tub and a shower.

"This is a fantastic flat," she informed him, trying to not let her eyes linger on Malfoy's private things for too long. She saw a picture of him with Pansy Parkinson during school, but since he hadn't mentioned any friends to her she wasn't sure if they were still on speaking terms or not.

She'd ask when the time seemed right. Not when they were about to decorate his baby's nursery.

"So I found all these baby magazines, and all we have to do is decide what we want and choose it from the magazine. When we do that it will automatically be purchased, taking the galleons from my account, and appear in the designated room."

"Seriously?" Hermione asked in surprise. "I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Apparently it's new, but it's convenient and that's what I like. The less I have to go into public, the better."

Hermione grimaced to herself as they stood in the nursery, understanding what he meant. She had seen it firsthand not even half an hour earlier in the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'm sorry, Draco," she said sincerely. He looked up and gave her a sad smile and shrug.

"It is what it is. I made my bed."

"Still," Hermione huffed, grabbing a magazine from the floor and sitting down cross legged.

"I thought we'd take them to the family room," Draco said with a laugh, holding a hand out to help Hermione from the floor.

"Oh," she laughed, letting him help her up. She bent low to grab the stack of magazines and Draco averted his eyes from her chest; her shirt had sagged down upon her bending and he caught a small glimpse of creamy skin. He couldn't think about her like that, she was helping him, not interested in shagging him.

"Can I get you something to drink?" he asked as Hermione seated herself on the couch, a stack of magazines beside her.

"Just water would be fine," she said, already distracted by the glossy pages of baby things. "Should I just mark the things I like and leave them for you to decide?"

"Sure," Draco shrugged, leaving for the kitchen.

Once he was out of her eyesight he sagged against the kitchen counter. He was attracted to Hermione Granger, but she was being such a help to him that he didn't want to complicate things, or worse, scare her away. He needed to keep tight control over himself. He had admitted he wouldn't be able to raise his son completely by himself, so he was terrified of scaring Granger away.

Draco sighed and took two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with ice and water before returning to Hermione. She had moved to the floor in front of the coffee table and was slowly scanning each page of the magazine in front of her thoughtfully. It was clear she was taking the decorating of the nursery very seriously.

"What look are we going for here, exactly?" she asked once Draco placed a glass of water in front of her.

"Something cheerful," Draco said slowly, looking confused and a little embarrassed. He really had no idea.

Hermione bit back a smile and looked back at the magazine.

A few hours or nursery planning had passed and Draco had pretty much left everything in the capable hands of Hermione.

He was sitting on an overstuffed armchair, sprawled out with his legs over the arm and his hands resting on his stomach (something he had loved doing since leaving the stuffy Manor), listening to Hermione mumble to herself about how much she loved the idea of constellations on the ceiling.

"Especially given his namesake," she muttered to herself, leaning back against the couch.

Draco was enjoying watching her; if she came across something she really liked her eyes would light up. If she wasn't sure about something she would bite her lip lightly and cross reference between different magazines, trying to decide which item was better suited.

A lock of her hair would periodically slide over her eyes and she'd blow it away automatically in an impatient manner.

He'd smile every so often, watching her order things for his son's nursery, but then he'd get a hollow feeling in his chest. This wasn't real and she wasn't his, she was doing him a favour. That was it.

"I think I have pretty much everything ordered," she said, looking up after a bit and smiling at Draco's comfortable, sprawled out position. "Now we just have to set it up. You get to do the heavy lifting," she said with a grin.

Draco laughed and held up his wand. "No problem."

"I don't know Draco, I think because you didn't actually help me choose anything at all that you should have to do it all manually." Her grin belied her words though.

He snorted indelicately as a door in the hallway opened.

Hermione looked behind her in surprise, having forgotten that the woman carrying Draco's baby was even in the house. A petite woman with blonde hair and green eyes, sporting a pretty sizeable baby bump, appeared from the hallway. She would have been gorgeous if she didn't have such an ugly, hateful look on her face.

"I'm hungry," she said flatly, staring toward Draco expectantly with narrowed eyes. The look on her face seemed to be almost challenging, and the longer it took for Draco to get to his feet, the more her eyes tightened in anger.

Hermione was expecting Draco to snarl something awful at the pregnant witch, but after a moment of hesitation he got to his feet with a heavy sigh. He hadn't been planning on starting dinner so early, but he knew not to anger Ava, she was vengeful and angry, and Draco was worried she'd do something to his baby.

"What would you like?" He asked, trying to be pleasant as he pocketed his wand.

She shook her head in irritation and rolled her eyes slightly. "I don't care, just get me something."

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed as she watched Draco gesture Ava to follow him from the family room and head for the kitchen. She could hear Draco's voice murmuring to the other witch, probably asking her opinion on dinner, and Hermione got to her feet and padded toward the kitchen. She peeked in and saw that Draco was pulling groceries from the refrigerator and placing them on the counter in a distracted manner.

"Get me some water," the blonde witch snarled rudely, making Hermione's blood boil, but Draco just filled a glass and sent it her way with magic.

It didn't take Hermione long to realize that she was all but forgotten.

She took a breath and turned away from the maddening scene in the kitchen, opting to go to the nursery and start setting things up herself. She was not even remotely interested in watching Draco fawn over the bitchy witch who clearly had no intention of even trying to be nice to him.

Hermione found herself beyond excited to see that everything she'd picked from the book was sitting in the nursery haphazardly, just waiting to get set up. Most things had to be built and had small booklets of instructions on top of the pieces of furniture, but she found that sitting on the floor and putting the pieces together was somewhat hypnotizing.

She felt calm and surreal building the furniture that would be used by Draco's baby when he came into the world, but she wasn't above using her wand to speed the process up a little bit. She tried to build the change table completely by hand and found that the screwdriver was making her hand red and sore.

Hermione had finished building the change table, crib, and an extra chest of drawers, the biggest pieces of furniture for the room, before she got to her feet and started moving things around with her wand.

The crib went between two large windows, where it seemed to fit perfectly, and the change table was tucked against the opposite wall, the extra chest of drawers beside it.

She waved her wand at two glider chairs and they sprung together much quicker than she had allowed the rest of the furniture to build, and she placed them side by side with a small table in between them, making the perfect area for snuggling and feeding the baby when he was born.

She dropped into a glider chair and huffed out a breath, glancing around at the room and feeling pretty proud of the handiwork she had completed in Draco's absence. She let out a breath and waved her wand again, changing the paint on the walls from plain white to soft greens and blues.

She had decided that she would be doing a constellation on the ceiling, but she wanted to do it by hand. There was something so beautiful about the idea, and the second it popped into her mind she couldn't shake it.

Hermione wondered if Draco had actually forgotten completely about her, as she figured she had to have been building furniture for a good hour, but as he hadn't come to find her she decided to just keep at it.

She flitted back out into the family room to grab the magazine she had seen the constellation in so she could see exactly how it was supposed to look. Something smelled amazing and she caught sight of Draco leaning into the refrigerator again, but she could hear Ava complaining about something that Draco had done wrong and scurried away before she ending up saying something rude.

Back in the nursery Hermione transfigured a box into a step ladder and got to work on the constellation, placing the stars in the right order so they would glow in the night. As she carried on, though, she kept amending it so that it wasn't just the constellation, but an entire galaxy that would glow dimly in the room and show the baby the universe.

She was barely a quarter of the way done when Draco came to fetch her for dinner. He blinked in surprise upon seeing that Hermione had set most of the nursery up herself, and he instantly felt bad for abandoning her for the bitch pregnant with his child. He needed to ensure Ava's happiness though, it was his son at risk, after all.

"You didn't have to do all this," He said to Hermione in surprise.

"It wasn't a problem," she said shortly, but Draco could tell immediately that she was annoyed.

"I'm sorry about that…" he said, feeling kind of like a jerk. "You really didn't have to build all the furniture."

"Well, what else was I going to do? Sit around and listen to that… that… ugh! I enjoyed it Draco, it was relaxing."

Draco raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Honestly," she swore.

"Well, dinner is ready."

"Excellent, I'm famished. I'll just run to the loo quick, and then I'll be out."

Hermione washed her hands and tried to let her irritation subside. It was not Draco's fault that Ava was there demanding his attention left, right and center. And she wasn't jealous of it, per se, but she wasn't thrilled about the way the other witch treated Draco. She had heard plenty of stories from Draco throughout the months, but seeing it first hand was different.

Hermione entered the kitchen, heading for the dining table that Ava was already seated at. Draco was transferring dishes from the kitchen to the table in silence, feeling tension in the air.

"Need a hand?" Hermione asked cheerfully as she entered, but Draco waved her to the table with a small smile that Hermione tried to return.

She knew that Draco had made the meal and had gathered from the time it took to make that it would be large, but she was still slightly surprised by the spread. She also wanted to tease Draco slightly about the fact that he had a house elf; a standing joke between them.

"Where's Flippy hiding, then?" she asked, watching with narrowed eyes as Draco filled a plate and handed it to Ava, who took it without a word of thanks.

Draco grinned at her as he took seat. "She's on holidays," he answered matter of factly, watching Hermione take even scoops of potatoes, salad, and a healthy sized slice of beef.

They chatted about that for a few minutes, Hermione wondering where exactly house elves went for holiday as she cut into a roasted potato and popped half into her mouth. It was easily one of the best she'd ever had, and that was saying something since she grew up with Molly Weasley's cooking.

"It isn't very good, is it?" Ava asked, looking like she could barely force it down.

"I was actually going to say that it's wonderful," Hermione corrected, giving Draco a smile.

"Thanks," Draco said, almost shyly.

"It's nothing to write home about," Ava said with another eye roll.

Hermione looked toward her quickly but managed to keep her mouth shut and took another bite.

The meal passed in awkward silence and Hermione found herself hoping Ava would hurry up and leave so things could go back to normal

"Anything for dessert?" The pregnant witch asked when the meal was finally, _finally_, over.

"No," Draco answered, but then quickly added, "Well, I think there might be some ice cream left in the freezer."

Ava rolled her eyes again and Hermione felt her hold on her temper slipping.

"I thought I told you I wanted creme brulee?"

"Are you being serious?" Hermione asked, turning to Ava with narrowed eyes.

"Hermione…" Draco started, but she carried on as though she hadn't heard him.

"I haven't heard you say one nice thing to Draco since I've been here, you've been ordering him around like you own the place and he's your own personal house elf, and you haven't even thanked him for the meal he just made for you."

"I think the fact that I'm carrying his wretched baby in my womb is more than enough thanks from me. I could have easily gotten rid of it and left him with nothing, but he's thankful I didn't. This is a favour for him and no one else."

Hermione took a deep breath, about to really let go, but Draco stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione. She's only going to be here two more months at the most. I've dealt with it this long."

"Yeah, Hermione," the girl mocked. "Two more months of me getting Draco Malfoy to do anything I want for me, since he almost ruined my life by impregnating me with his tainted seed. It's the least he can do. I'm just glad no one else knows I'm here and what I'm doing. Could you imagine the backlash I would receive? I'm glad to be almost done with it so I can get the fuck out of here and move on."

"You're horrible," Hermione whispered, seeing how embarrassed Draco was by what Ava was saying. "You're a horrible witch and I'm glad you won't be raising this child."

"I want nothing to do with it," Ava said, trying to back her chair out from the table.

"Him," Hermione corrected, feeling almost sick to her stomach. "The baby is a boy."

"It's nothing to me," Ava said, finally getting to her feet and leaving Hermione with an embarrassed Draco alone at the dining room table.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

Hermione was sitting in her apothecary a month after her supremely uncomfortable dinner at Draco's, wondering what time that night he'd be showing up. He had apologized immediately after Ava disappeared for the witch's behaviour, but Hermione tried to shrug it off. She was disgusted with the girl, but that was not Draco's fault.

He was doing everything he could to make sure that the mother of his child was happy and comfortable, and although she was definitely not happy, Hermione didn't think that anyone could be more comfortable. As far as she could tell, the pregnant witch didn't even have to lift a finger as long as Draco was around.

Hermione only went back to the flat once, and that was to finish putting up the constellation and galaxy in the nursery, but she never came across Ava again, which was perfectly fine with her. She never wanted to see that terrible witch again if she could help it.

Ava had a shot at the one thing Hermione wanted; motherhood. But Hermione was about as far away from that as she could get, considering she was still single. She tried to put all of her love and mothering into her friends' children, but it just wasn't the same.

Hermione looked at her clock and realized Draco was 25 minutes late, which in itself was a surprise because she didn't think he had been late for anything once in his entire life. They had agreed to meet that evening, and she was getting a sick feeling as the clock continued to tick on without his arrival.

She closed the shop but waited a while longer anyway, hoping that he would turn up regardless if The Cure-A-Torium was open or not, but she could feel deep in her bones that something was off.

When she had waited for 45 minutes she knew she couldn't avoid looking for him. Something was obviously wrong and she was worried.

She locked her shop behind her and headed down Diagon Alley, hoping he hadn't been attacked by someone on his way to her store. As much as she tried to deny it, there were people out there who wanted nothing more than for Draco Malfoy to die a slow and painful death. A lot of people blamed him for the death of a family member during the war, but Hermione felt it was time for everyone to move on with their lives.

It was not his fault that his parents were so vile.

It was something Draco accepted without much thought, regardless of Hermione trying to tell him that he really wasn't a bad person. She didn't think it was fair that the world blamed Draco for things other people did, but that was the way things were. She was determined to change it at some point, but with Lucius being freed from Azkaban within 3 months, she figured the anger would spark again.

She scanned left and right as she hurried down Diagon Alley, hoping beyond hope that Draco was alright and had just been held late at work, or something.

Once she was done checking the alley and hadn't spotted him, she decided to apparate directly to his flat. He had changed his wards to allow her in when she went to finish the Galaxy on the baby's ceiling, and he told her that he wouldn't be revoking the privilege and she was always welcome.

She still felt like an intruder, though.

Upon her materialization in the entryway she immediately heard the piercing cry of a baby, and she dropped her purse in utter shock.

He wasn't supposed to be born for another 3 weeks!

She kicked off her shoes hastily, narrowly missing a large ornamental vase to the left of the door, and threw her cloak toward the wall before scurrying down the hall. She followed the sounds of crying to the nursery that she had painstakingly decorated only a month before.

"Draco?!" she was calling as she ran, trying to be heard over the sound of the baby's cries.

She rushed into the nursery without knocking and stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing Draco with the tiny baby held in his arms.

"Draco!" She breathed, taking in his tired eyes and screaming baby.

She approached the pair, the baby screaming so loud she wanted to cover her ears. Instead she walked right up to Draco and carefully transferred the tiny little boy from his arms to her own. She was cradling the baby in her arms expertly as she rocked from side to side, shushing him quietly, as tears bloomed in her eyes at the fact that he was there.

Scorpius was beautiful.

"Wow," Hermione breathed, taking in the tiny fingers that were wrapped around one of her own. He was calming down, blindly nuzzling her blouse in search of food.

Hermione glanced at Draco, who looked dead on his feet, and quickly gestured to one of the glider chairs she had set up. Draco dropped into his gratefully and sighed, rubbing his tired eyes.

"Why didn't you come get me when Ava went into labour?" she asked quietly, still rocking Scorpius gently in her arms.

"We didn't even make it to the hospital. The bitch waited until the labour was almost finished before she even told me. She didn't want to go to the hospital, because people may have seen her with me and made the connection. I called in a medi-witch and she helped Ava give birth here."

Hermione could hardly even say she was surprised. "Good thing everything was fine since he's a little bit early. He's healthy right?"

"The medi-witch said perfectly."

"Thank Merlin," Hermione breathed, looking down at the tiny baby again.

"I wanted to send you an owl but I just… I couldn't remember what you told me about leaving him alone and I am not going to be relying on Flippy to help me with this in any way. She has enough work and… Well I was raised by elves and it sucked."

"Draco," Hermione sighed, unable to tear her eyes away from the now sleeping baby. "Where's Ava?"

"Gone."

"Already?" Hermione whispered, her eyes getting damp again.

"She didn't even hold him," Draco supplied. "She got healed up by the medi-witch, signed over all of her rights, and left almost immediately. She had packed her things as her labour started."

"What a bitch," Hermione sniffled, trying to wipe her eyes so Draco wouldn't notice.

"What is it?" He asked her in alarm, getting to his feet and easing his son back into his own arms.

"I just don't understand it," she said, her eyes overflowing. "It isn't fair that Scorpius has to grow up without a mother because she is so unbelievably selfish. Look at him, Draco," she whispered, gesturing to the amazing baby. "He doesn't deserve any of it."

"We'll get by, Hermione," He promised, unsure what to say to make her feel better and slightly worried about her mental state. He'd only seen her seriously cry one other time in his life, and that was while she was being brutally tortured by his aunt. He didn't like to think about that, though.

"I'll be the best dad I can, and you'll always be around to help, right?" He asked, feeling insecure suddenly because of where his thoughts had taken him.

"Right," she agreed, sniffling, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She wiped her face on her sleeve, feeling almost overwhelmed by emotion. She wanted a child, a husband, a _family_. Here was a child who was left without a mother, a selfish woman who wanted nothing to do with him; who didn't even refer to him as a human.

Draco gently laid Scorpius in his crib and stood still for a moment, hoping the baby would continue sleeping. When he didn't wake Draco gestured for Hermione to follow him from the nursery, which she did, but not after casting a spell to ensure that if Scorpius woke up her and Draco would hear it no matter where they were in the flat.

Draco was in the kitchen, pouring tea into two coffee cups when Hermione entered.

"I've charmed the nursery so we will know if Scorpius wakes up."

Draco turned to her, looking a little surprised, and then let out a heavy sigh. That was something he hadn't thought of. There was so many things he didn't think of, so many things that he knew nothing about, and he was worried.

"I'm going to be a terrible parent," he said, walking to the table and throwing himself down dramatically.

"Why would you say that?" Hermione asked, perching herself against the counter and sipping from the cup of tea Draco had left sitting there.

"I didn't even think of how I would hear him if I wasn't in the room. He could be screaming for hours and I'd never even know."

Draco was silent for a moment, Hermione watching him closely, before he sighed heavily and said, "I don't know if I can do this."

"You can, Draco, and you aren't alone. You know I'll always be here to help."

"That's not true, Hermione. You'll be here sometimes, when you aren't working and aren't busy with your friends and your own life. What if you weren't here right now? What if I just put Scorpius in his crib and walked away, left him there with no way of knowing when he had woken up?"

"You'll learn," Hermione started, but Draco seemed like he was entering full fledged panic mode, thinking of all the responsibilities he hadn't thought of before.

"I won't learn fast enough and this is a life that I'm solely responsible for. I don't know if I can do it. I can't do it alone, Hermione. What the hell was I thinking?"

"Draco," Hermione said, pushing herself away from the counter.

"No," he growled, and dropped his head into his hands. Then he looked up suddenly, his eyes on Hermione's. "What if you stayed?"

"Stayed?"

"You can help me raise him! I'll pay you!"

Hermione almost laughed. "Draco… you don't want me to be a stand in mother for your son. I'm sure you can hire help that knows what they're doing, that have actually raised children before."

"No," he said with a shake of his head, his shaggy hair swinging around his collar. "I can't trust anyone with him, Hermione, don't you see? He's a Malfoy. That means the world will be against him just as much as they are me."

Hermione thought on that for a second, and as much as she didn't want to believe the words, she knew they held a semblance of truth. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy would not get any extra chances in their world - his mother was proof of that. She wouldn't even hold him after he was born because he was the son of a Malfoy. It didn't matter that he was her son as well.

She let out a breath.

"So what exactly are you asking me to do?"

"I… you could be like a nanny to him? Help me with him. You know that I have the space here for you, and I have an empty room again now that Ava's gone."

"I have a business to run, Draco."

"As do I. I would never ask you to quit something you're so amazing at, either… what about if I make a potions lab here? Then you would still be able to brew, hell, we could both use it! I really only need to go to office for board meetings and any other important meeting days. I'm sure the part time employees at The Cure-A-Torium can take more hours, and we can learn to raise Scorpius together."

Hermione was watching him closely, obviously taking him seriously.

Draco was scared as he watched Hermione, who was deep in thought. He was nervous that she'd say no and that he had crossed a line; it was a lot to ask of her.

Hermione also knew she couldn't say no. The only one who would suffer if she did was Scorpius, and that wouldn't be fair. He deserved a real shot. On top of it all, her one real desire in the world was to be a mother; here was a family just waiting for someone to step into the role.

"Clarence did ask me for extra hours just a week or so ago," Hermione admitted, chewing her bottom lip nervously.

"Offer him a raise if he can take on more hours. I'll take care of it."

Hermione furrowed her brow as she absentmindedly sipped from her tea. It had to have been hard for Draco to ask her for her help in the magnitude that he was. He wasn't one to ask for help in general, but offering to have her live with him (presumably rent free, which was something she'd have to ask), and the fact that he offered to take care of paying her employees more money to work more hours meant that he was being serious.

"Just a few questions," Hermione answered slowly, thinking everything through. "If I was to live here would I be paying rent? How much of a raise are you planning to give to my employees to run the shop while I'm not there?"

"Of course you're not paying rent. I own the place, anyway, and I don't want your money. How about I give them an extra ten galleons a week? I think that's enough, isn't it?"

Hermione eyes widened in surprise as she nodded. Draco was being extremely generous.

"If you're doing all of that for me I really don't want to take payment for helping with Scorpius."

"I would feel like I was taking advantage of you if I don't pay you."

"I'll be living in your flat, eating your food, basically living for free, and I still have income from my store. No, I don't want any payment, but I will be inviting my friends over sometimes," she warned, a small smile on her face. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she loved the idea. She had decorated the nursery and already felt so close to the baby sleeping within it.

"Fair enough," Draco said. "Are you saying yes?!"

Hermione cracked a small smile. "Yes."

"Should we go tell them? I'll have to show my face to them at some point," Draco said, looking a little peaky at the thought.

"Not yet," she demurred, noticing the look of relief on Draco's face. "Scorpius is asleep and the first rule is to never wake a sleeping baby. Plus he's just so… small. I don't know how I feel about taking him out to show him off quite yet."

"Thank you so much, Hermione. I don't know how I'll ever repay you for this," Draco said seriously, looking like he wanted to drop to his knees in relief.

Hermione just smiled, already planning on getting her things packed, telling her landlord she was leaving, and talking to her employees about taking on more hours. She would have a busy week ahead of her and was just glad that she didn't have a lease on her flat.

/

A week later Draco was watching Hermione move all of her belongings into his flat. He was interested in watching her unpack, seeing her placing her knick knacks and personal photos around his space without a second thought. There was something so homey about seeing their things mixed together, her books beside his on the bookshelves in the sitting room and photos of her family and friends in empty spaces.

He thought he would be annoyed, but he really only felt a warmth spreading through him as he held his son to his chest and watched Hermione efficiently enter his life in an extremely absolute manner. Draco was getting Scorpius dressed to take him to meet Hermione's friends for the first time when Hermione entered the nursery and dropped into a glider.

"Done!"

"That was quick," Draco commented, trying to button up the snaps on Scorpius' onesie as the baby squirmed.

"I already had a good idea where everything would fit. The hardest part was sorting out my clothes and trying to personalize the bedroom after that horrid woman was in there, but it's dealt with now."

Hermione got back to her feet and hovered behind Draco for a moment. She found that she just wanted to be looking and interacting with Scorpius at any and every moment possible. Draco was handling dressing him well, though, so she turned away and started packing the diaper bag, excited to show Scorpius to her friends.

"Let's do this," Draco breathed out, a swaddled Scorpius draped across his chest and onto his shoulder, his large hand supporting the baby's neck gently.

"Wanna trade?" Hermione asked, grinning and holding out the diaper bag. Draco fake sighed but switched with her quickly, watching as she adjusted the baby expertly in her arms before heading for the fireplace.

"Hello?" Hermione called, stepping carefully from the floo with Scorpius in her arms. Draco emerged behind her, fidgeting nervously with the strap of the diaper bag that was flung over his shoulder. He was completely out of his element and it showed that he was uncomfortable. It was like he was trying to not look around and take in any of the trinkets, photos, or personal items in Harry's home.

Hermione did have to give him credit for getting into the fireplace at all, since he had no idea how much Harry and her other friends had matured over the years. Almost as much as Draco had, actually.

"Hermione?" They heard a woman's voice call from upstairs, muffled through the floorboards. They then heard a pitter patter of feet run across the ceiling and start to descend the staircase.

"Auntie Haminy!" A little voice squealed before a miniature Harry Potter got to the bottom of the steps. He looked exactly like his father except he didn't wear glasses and maybe had a little bit more of Ginny's mouth, which, if she didn't have it pulled back into a sarcastic sneer, was really quite dainty. He had chubby cheeks and stocky legs and, though Draco would never admit it aloud, the kid was quite cute.

His feet stuttered to a halt as he saw Hermione with a man behind her and a baby in her arms.

"Mummy! Auntie Haminy has a baby!" He screamed up the stairs. "When did you order a baby, auntie?"

Hermione giggled and took a seat on a large bench at the dining table. Draco moved so that he was directly behind her, holding on to the strap of the diaper bag like a lifeline, as they listened to Ginny's frantic footsteps thundering down the staircase.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

Ginny appeared around the corner in a comedic fashion, it seemed that in her haste to get downstairs her pants caught onto a loose nail at the bottom of the staircase, spilling her into the doorway. She looked up to, presumably, make a joke about herself, but her face morphed to uncertainty and confusion as Ginny saw Draco Malfoy standing directly behind her friend, a tiny baby clutched comfortably in Hermione's arms.

"Oh my Merlin," Ginny breathed, taking careful steps into the room and peering at Malfoy's baby. A small smile grew on her face and she lifted James so he could get a better view. "He came a little early, then?" Ginny asked, and Draco looked surprised that she was so calm and informed about everything.

"He's actually a week old, but he's just so tiny! I couldn't imagine taking him out and about when he seemed so… new." Hermione finished lamely.

"I see why you missed Sunday dinner this week now," Ginny supplied, moving closer to peer at Scorpius, who was nestled into his blankets comfortably.

"What's his name?" James asked, looking at the little blond baby with something akin to awe.

"Scorpius," Hermione supplied, and Ginny moved even closer so that James could reach out an uncertain finger and poke Scorpius softly on the foot.

"He's little," James pointed out.

"Yes," Ginny agreed. She put James back down and smiled at Draco, who smiled uncomfortably back.

"Oh! Here comes Daddy," Ginny said to James as the fireplace lit up behind Draco, who moved away from it swiftly to avoid being bowled over.

Harry emerged, his mouth was open as though to call out, but he stopped in his tracks at the sight of Hermione with a little blond baby, and Ginny standing beside Draco Malfoy like it was the most natural thing in the universe.

"Daddy!" James squealed, frightening Scorpius, who started awake and began to scream in Hermione's arms as he nuzzled her chest, like he usually did. Draco immediately took the bag from his shoulder and rummaged through it, passing out a bottle that Hermione took automatically.

She felt it for a moment and turned to Draco with an eyebrow raised. He took the bottle back and used his wand to heat it, checking the temperature on the underside of his wrist before handing it back with a sarcastic eyebrow raised. No words were exchanged between the two and Ginny watched on in interest. Scorpius was impatient and began nuzzling Hermione's chest with more vigour, causing her to blush slightly as Ginny raised her eyebrows.

Hermione positioned the baby better in her arms before shoving the nipple of the bottle into Scorpius' mouth, quieting his cries immediately.

Hermione started to move around aimlessly, holding the small baby to her chest as she walked. There was a practiced little bounce with every step she took and Harry and Ginny turned to each other in surprise. If they didn't know better they would just assume that she was the mother of the child in her arms. Draco found himself standing awkwardly beside the diaper bag, a large, scrubbed oak table between him and his former nemesis, as Hermione tended to his child.

Potter looked at the baby in Hermione's arms and back to Draco a few times before he finally just said, "What?"

Draco was at a loss and was beginning to feel embarrassed and flustered, but then Hermione started to laugh, trying to imitate the look of utter confusion on Harry's face, which caused Ginny to laugh and James to follow suit.

The tension broke. Scorpius was calm and blinking lazily as his belly filled, and Ginny told Harry that Draco's son had been born the week before. Harry went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer, holding one out to Draco like he always came home to find his former nemesis hanging out with his wife.

Draco peered at the bottle of beer nervously for a moment before pursing his lips and declining with a polite, "No thank you."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed momentarily before he placed the bottle of beer back into his refrigerator with a slight shrug.

Draco had stayed away from alcohol the second he learned of Scorpius' conception, and it was hard. He had absolutely zero alcohol in his home so that he wasn't tempted, but being in other people's houses and having it offered to him so casually was an entirely new thing for him.

He was silently proud of himself for declining. Especially because no one knew about his issues with alcohol in the past - and no one needed to.

"I've moved in with Draco," Hermione said without any preamble. "He needs help and I've offered to give it to him. Everything is taken care of; Clarence is working more hours at The Cure-A-Torium and I'm brewing from Draco's flat. He's renovated the living area so that there's a brewing room in some of it; it was entirely too big anyway, now it's a more manageable size."

"Hermione," Harry started, his voice hushed slightly. "Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"But… well what if you become too attached?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, feeling his previous nerves flare back to life.

"It means that Hermione will come to love your son. She may even come to love you. So what happens when you decide that you need to find some pureblood witch to take over before Scorpius learns of Hermione's heritage that you all hate so much? Then what? She's chucked out with nothing?"

"Harry!" Hermione snapped, looking appalled by his words.

"No, Hermione. It's okay. It makes sense he'd think that way about me," Draco answered. "I don't care about blood, Potter. If I did, do you really think that my son would be in her arms right now? That she'd be living in my flat? I asked Hermione for help because she's one of the only friends I have in England, and I trust her implicitly around my son, which I don't take lightly - not with my last name."

"Even if what you said were to happen, Harry, that's just a chance we're all going to have to take. I hope that by helping to raise Scorpius he will never be exposed to such backward thinking, anyway."

"Look, I know everything thinks the worst of me. I know that! I'm just... Trying to do right by my son. I literally have no idea what I'm doing and I need help. I don't want him to suffer because of my lack of knowledge, and I know for a fact that Hermione will be able to help me fill in the gaps. She's already a way better parent than I am. Just yesterday I literally forgot to put a nappy on him. Who does that?"

That explanation seemed to garner Draco more sympathy from Potter than anything else.

"I put James' nappy on backwards every time I did it for 3 days straight until Ginny had a mental breakdown and hexed me."

"I did not have a mental breakdown! I had just given birth and my hormones were out of whack! I figured the least you could do is know how to put on a flippin nappy!"

"Speaking of nappies," Hermione said with a grimace, glancing toward Draco.

"Yeah, yeah. My turn."

Draco draped a burping cloth over his shoulder before lifting the diaper bag onto the opposite. He took Scorpius gently from Hermione's arms and asked politely where he could go to burp and change his son.

Ginny led him away, chatting happily as they ascended the staircase and Hermione was fairly sure that Ginny was actually taking the opportunity to show Draco around. It felt surreal. Hermione took a breath, knowing that Harry was going to lecture her the second Draco was out of earshot.

"I think you're doing a really great thing," he said, catching Hermione completely off guard.

"Pardon?"

"He has obviously not had it easy, and he's right about never finding someone he can trust to help him. As long as you're being compensated I really can't think of anything wrong with it. I know you were probably expecting a lecture about how "it's Malfoy" and whatever else, but honestly... he's come a long way. That, and I'm tired of hating people."

"Wow, Harry. Thanks for being so supportive."

"I couldn't imagine having to take care of James alone, Hermione. Having a baby changes a person. I think having you to help out will be nothing but a good thing."

"I'm glad you feel this way. Draco and I have spent a lot of time together the past few months and I've come to care for him, in a way. I met Scorpius just after he was born and felt an instant connection to him; I can't even explain it, really. It wouldn't be fair to Scorpius to have someone there who could potentially harm him or treat him badly because of who he is. He hasn't done anything in the world to deserve anyone's hate. If only everyone would take it as easily as you and Ginny have."

"We're your best friends, Hermione, and will stand by you and your decisions without a second thought. Well, unless they're truly crazy, like that one time you wanted to try and tame trolls so they could get jobs and live in specialized apartments. That was utterly insane."

"Shut up, Harry!"

"I'm just saying."

"I was drugged after breaking my arm falling from a ladder and down the stairs, helping you, by the way, to try and remove severed elf heads from the wall!"

"Oh right," Harry said with a laugh that was echoed by James, who always seemed to laugh whenever someone else did. "Sometimes it's hard to keep your insane ideas straight."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and reached out to slap him on the arm before turning her attention back to the staircase, where Ginny was just walking through the door.

"That man needs all the help he can get," she said with a dramatic sigh. Hermione laughed and James followed suit from his father's lap.

"I told him if he put the nappy on backwards I wouldn't be able to handle myself and would kick him out," she added on.

Hermione snorted inelegantly and even Harry mustered up a small laugh.

"He isn't quite that bad," Hermione said after a moment.

"Lucky you," Ginny said in a faux angry voice. "I guess I'll get dinner started."

Ginny moved to the kitchen and started removing things to make for dinner, and assuming Draco and Hermione would be staying she demanded help. Hermione grimaced at her as Draco entered the room, not sure if he would be happy to be left alone with Harry, but when Ginny gave her the 'Look', she got to her feet quickly.

Hermione chopped the mushrooms and onions before tossing them into a frying pan, listening to Harry and Draco trying to make small talk at the table behind her. Ginny dumped ground beef into the same pan Hermione was working on and started on mashed potatoes.

"He is rather handsome," Ginny said in a conspiratorial tone as soon as she was sure Harry was immersed in awkward conversation with Draco.

Hermione's cheeks reddened but she shook her head. "That isn't what this is about. This is about Scorpius."

"We'll see," Ginny answered, throwing a wink for good measure.

"Shut up and make your damn pie," Hermione snarled, dropping the spatula dramatically and walking to Draco. She gently removed Scorpius from his arms without a word and started cuddling him, throwing glares at Ginny every few seconds. Draco raised an eyebrow but continued to answer Harry's questions about Quidditch, trying his best to fit in with the easy way Hermione and her friends interacted with each other.

Ginny cackled evilly and turned back to the stove, ignoring Hermione's glares.

Not twenty minutes later the floo lit up and out stepped Ronald with his longtime girlfriend, Lavender Brown. Hermione wasn't expecting them and she felt Draco's thigh tense beside her in nervousness, wondering how the Weasley would accept him being in the room.

"Evening," Ron said with a yawn, carrying his one year old daughter, Rose, on a hip.

"Oh yeah. I forgot that I invited Ron and Lavender over for dinner," Harry said with an innocent grin. Hermione huffed but didn't say anything, knowing how Ron was now that the war was over and he had a child of his own.

"Mione, Malfoy," Ron said with another yawn before doing a comedic double take. "Malfoy?!"

Ginny laughed and placed two more settings at the table, setting down glasses of water and inviting her brother and his family to take a seat.

"It's a long story," Ginny started with a sympathetic glance toward Draco, who gave her a tight nod, allowing her to tell the story.

"I'll give you the rundown. Basically, Draco knocked some bitch up who didn't want anything to do with him or the baby. She gave birth and left immediately. Draco has no idea what he's doing. He's been hanging out with Hermione for a long while and finally asked her for help, which she agreed to give him."

"Oh," Ron answered, clearly trying to take everything in.

"I'm tired of fighting and hating," Harry added, repeating what he'd said to Hermione.

Ron nodded. "Alright," he said with a shrug. "I couldn't imagine trying to take care of Rose alone."

Lavender grinned and gave Ron a pat on the back before greeting everyone at the table. She was amicable with Draco and approached Hermione to coo at the baby boy in her arms.

"He is going to look exactly like you, Malfoy," Lavender said after peering at Scorpius, gesturing toward the fine blond hairs and blue eyes.

"I think his eyes will change," was all Draco said in reply.

"They'll be grey," Hermione said in agreement.

"Dinner is ready. Serve yourselves," Ginny demanded, moving toward the table with a small plate for James, who was perched in his booster seat.

Hermione went to pass Scorpius to Draco, but Draco shook his head and walked to the counter, getting Hermione a plate ready and bringing it back before going for his own food. She had seen him treat Ava like glass when she was pregnant, and now that Hermione was helping out with Scorpius he was starting to dote on her, as well.

It made her slightly giddy.

Ginny waggled her eyebrows dramatically and Hermione had to tamp down the urge to fling a scoop of potatoes at her.

"That was surprisingly not awful," Draco drawled from his spot in his favourite armchair. He was slouching comfortably and had his hands resting on his stomach lightly. "Ginny is a good cook."

"She is," Hermione agreed, reaching for a glass of water and taking a sip, watching Draco closely.

"Out with it," he finally said after a theatrical sigh. "I know you want to ask me something."

Hermione breathed out through her nose, trying to find a way to word her question without sounding rude. "Where are all of your friends?" She finally asked, just getting it over with.

Draco rose an eyebrow and broke eye contact, looking away as he thought about it.

"Well Pansy and Blaise moved to France shortly after the war, they've been there ever since and I'm fairly sure Theo spends most of his time with them. Daphne has been a little cool with me since the betrothal between her sister and I was announced. I figured she would have been over it the second it was terminated, especially considering that I never even seen Astoria outside of family gatherings, but I haven't heard a word. Greg doesn't speak to me anymore, not since the war."

"Have you tried to contact her?" Hermione asked curiously, completely ignoring the Goyle comment.

"Well… no."

"Friendship is a two way street, Draco. Maybe she thinks you don't want anything to do with her."

Draco didn't answer immediately, he seemed to be thinking about her words. "Maybe," he said after a while.

"Have you even told any of your friends about Scorpius?" She asked.

"Not yet," he answered quietly, and Hermione couldn't help feeling a tiny bit annoyed.

"Why not? Are you… ashamed?" She asked, the thought striking her for the first time. He said he hadn't spoken to his friends for quite a while, but surely the birth of his son warranted some sort of contact.

"Of course not," He snapped, sitting up properly in his armchair.

"Well then why?" Hermione asked, noting that her voice was pitched an octave higher than usual with her discontent.

"I don't know what to say to them, Hermione! 'Oh hello Pansy, Blaise, I know we haven't spoken in almost two years but I just thought I should let you know that I have a child now. Remember Hermione Granger? Yes, she lives with me and is helping me raise him since his own mother wouldn't even claim his as hers.' I'm sure that would go over well."

Draco's voice was full of sarcasm and Hermione couldn't help but gape at him for a moment, feeling completely hurt. She had not even lived there for an entire day yet and she already wanted to slap him in the head and leave.

"Which part wouldn't go over well, Draco? The fact that your son's mother walked away or that you have a mudblood standing in her place?" Hermione felt her voice crack and slapped a hand over her eyes, feeling stupid and betrayed. Tears were filling her eyes and she didn't want Draco to see how badly she was hurt by what he was insinuating.

"Hermione," he hissed, and she could hear movement seconds before he pulled her hand away from her eyes. He forced her to look at him, despite the tears that broke free and dripped down her face. "It isn't like that and you know it. You're a better mother than that bitch ever would have been and I don't feel that way about blood, _you know that_! I just meant it would be a whole lot of things in a letter that have no business being written in one!"

Hermione just sniffled.

"Gods woman, I've been friends with you for almost a year and you suddenly feel that I still think of you that way, in a way which I haven't felt for years and have apologized profusely for? You know that I respect you more than anything! I'm a little fucking annoyed that you would immediately go there the second you misunderstood me."

Hermione sniffled again, and now she felt guilty. He was right.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I think I'm feeling a little insecure here. Harry said something earlier, about how one day I could come to love you, and I realized that I already care for you greatly. I feel like we could really be starting something here, but I have no idea how you feel about me and I thought you were purposely keeping both Scorpius and I a secret from everyone in your life on purpose."

Draco did nothing but stare for a solid 15 seconds, stunned by what Hermione was saying. He had been crushing on her for months but truly figured she would only ever want to be friends with him.

"I think we could be starting something too. You know I care about you, Hermione, and not just because you are doing me a favour, but because I have had a pretty serious crush on you for a good six months now."

Hermione's eyes widened, shocked. She had no idea that he was feeling that way about her.

"I was honestly just trying to push it to the side because I thought there was no way in hell you would ever think that way about me."

They sat in silence for a moment, watching each other. "Well," Hermione said with a nervous chuckle, "I guess this is the part where I ask you to be my boyfriend, then?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "If I had known it was going to be that easy to officially start dating you I would have asked four months ago."

Hermione giggled, reaching out to pull him into a hug. Draco returned it easily, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

"I have a letter to write," he said after a few minutes. "I'm going to invite my friends over for dinner as soon as they can make it."

"Daphne too?" Hermione asked, retreating from Draco, who nodded.

"I think that's an excellent idea," she praised.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

Hermione was laying in her bed late one night, unable to sleep due to the caffeinated tea she drank at a completely unreasonable hour. Scorpius had been supremely cranky for the entire day and both Draco and Hermione were at their wits' end, unable to figure out how to quiet him and make him happy.

She felt dead on her feet after dinner and decided to have a tea to keep her going. Apparently it worked too well, and of course Scorpius was out within the hour.

She rolled around, annoyed, and then was nervous for the thirteenth time that day due to the fact that Draco's friends had all accepted an invite to dinner, which was the next evening. Draco had given them literally no details in his letter about why he wanted them to suddenly join him in England; Hermione had a sneaking suspicion that he was looking forward to shocking them all off their arses.

The week that Hermione had lived in the flat and her and Draco's subsequent decision, rather maturely she thought, to begin dating had been excellent. She was determined to take it slow with Draco though, on the physical side of things. She remembered her mum telling her that if she ever wanted to keep a man, the best way was to hold out on sex for a while. She had no idea if it was true, but decided it was worth a shot since all of her other relationships had fallen quite flat quickly.

She hadn't told that to Draco, of course, but he didn't seem to have sex on his mind all that much either. They were both terribly busy between brewing potions, Draco having to go into work, and Scorpius, who was just the most darling baby in the entire universe, she was sure.

She rolled around for a few more minutes before deciding to give up and get something useful around the house done. She tiptoed across the hall to Scorpius' room, entering quietly so she could check on the sleeping baby.

She approached his crib and smiled to herself when her eyes landed on the small form, spread out on his stomach with his face turned in her direction.

She let out a sigh of satisfaction before leaning on the crib and smiling down at Scorpius. He had gained a pound in the last week and was beginning to get chubby, complete with wrist rolls and big cheeks. His blond hair was the same, as were his bluish eyes, but they were beginning to focus a little bit better on his surroundings when he was awake.

Scorpius started to stir, an arm twitching ever so slightly as he made sucking motions with his lips. He jerked and suddenly his eyes sprung open, his mouth opening to let out a cry.

"Shhhh," Hermione said, reaching for the infant immediately. "No need to cry, love."

She lifted him into her arms and tucked him into her body, holding him against herself as she turned to head to the kitchen for a bottle. She had left her wand on her side table and Scorpius liked to be walked around, so it wasn't a big deal.

Once she was facing the door she let out a yelp, jumping into the air as Scorpius started whimpering again from the jostling and loud noise.

"Sorry," Draco yawned. He was leaning on the doorframe casually, making Hermione wonder how long he had been standing there. "You didn't need to get up with him again," Draco told her as he fell into step with her.

"I was awake anyway," she admitted. "I was in his room before he even started to cry."

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Not at all. I was just rolling around and annoying myself."

Draco said nothing at first, just watched as Hermione bumped around the kitchen with the baby in her arms. She held him with one arm as she heated his bottle, looking as comfortable and casual as though she had been doing it her entire life.

She'd be a wonderful mother to his son, he thought, a small smile playing on his lips as he watched them together.

He followed her to the couch in the seating area, watching as she settled down with Scorpius in her arms before urging him to take the nipple of the bottle.

They were quiet for a moment, both watching the baby feed, and then Hermione looked up at him with furrowed brows.

"Not trying to sound pushy, but do you think you'd ever be willing to let your mum meet Scorpius?'

Draco was stunned into momentary silence. Hermione had only asked him about his mother once, and once he'd told her he had nothing to do with her she hadn't been brought up again.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, sighing as he pushed a hand through his hair. "She was a terrible mother, Hermione."

She nodded in agreement, although she didn't really know.

"I was just thinking about my mum earlier, and if she were still alive I would definitely want her to meet him. He's just so precious; everyone will love him."

Draco figured this was that thing that happened to women, when they were somehow blinded about the truth of the world when it came to babies. No one would love Scorpius but him and Hermione, and maybe their friends, but Narcissa would not. Scorpius was born out of wedlock and would not be considered a true heir to Draco's line in his parents' eyes - not that he felt the same way they would.

"Seriously, Hermione. She was an awful parent, and I know it's important that we don't raise Scorpius with those same twisted views that I was raised with - I fear that even if we forbade it, she would still try."

Hermione twisted her lips for a moment.

"I don't know her, Draco, so I'm not disagreeing with you, but I think it would be different because of the fact that he's her grandchild. Maybe she regrets the way things are with you now, regrets that she raised you the way she did and now you have no contact with her because of it... " Hermione trailed off, unsure why she was even going down this route.

Draco shrugged. "She should have thought about that, I guess."

Hermione bit her lip, but dropped the subject, looking down at Scorpius to see that he was still gulping happily.

Draco watched them closely for a moment, wondering if Hermione was right. If he was being totally truthful, he did miss his mother and he did want to give her a chance to meet her grandson. He chose to distance himself from her because he couldn't forgive her for the things he had been put through, but maybe she deserved a second chance.

"Do you think I should give her a second chance?" he asked suddenly into the silence. "I was in hell for years…"

Hermione glanced at him quickly, seeming like she wanted to say something but was holding it back while she figured out how to word it.

She waited until Scorpius had finished his bottle, and propped him up on her knees with her hand on his chest, supporting his neck between her thumb and forefinger as she began to rub his back up and down.

"Giving you a second chance was probably the best decision I ever made," she finally answered strongly, looking up and meeting his eye.

Draco swallowed and nodded, knowing he wouldn't do anything to ruin it with her for himself and his son.

"Maybe I'll write her," he said, deep in thought.

Hermione was opening her mouth to reply, but Scorpius belched loudly and drew her attention.

"There's my big boy!" she cooed, turning him around and wiping his tiny lips gently with a cloth. Draco watched them interact for a moment before deciding that if he was going to write to his mother, he should do it before he changed his mind altogether.

Hermione stood in front of her mirror in her room, trying to decide if the outfit she chose for dinner was too fancy or if it was fine. Draco told her that pretty much all dinners with friends or family in the circles he used to run in were formal, so that was the route they were taking.

Flippy, Draco's elf, was busy preparing a meal fit for a king. Or so she assumed. She hadn't officially met the elf, but she knew Draco paid her a small salary and gave her a day off once a week.

She also suspected that Draco was purposely keeping her away from Flippy, probably in fear that she would try to free her for real, even though Hermione explained to him that she had given that up years ago. As long as House Elves were treated with respect, given the option of payment and whatever time off they would take, she was okay with it.

Flippy was treated exceptionally well by Draco, so she wouldn't do anything to undermine it. He probably just remembered her crazed outlook when they were younger and was fearful to have them alone in the same room.

She was staring between two different pairs of heels when Draco breezed into her bedroom, Scorpius, who was dressed in a simple onesie, in his arms.

"Formalities don't count for the baby then?"

"I got his suit on and he puked all over it. Then I had to take it off because you're always lecturing me about using magic on or around him and I honestly just couldn't be bothered to try to get it back on."

Hermione grinned, unable to hide it.

"Those ones," Draco said, pointing to the pair of stilettos on the left. "They'll make your arse look amazing."

"Draco!" she scolded, her cheeks reddening, but she slipped the shoes on anyway.

"They'll be here any second," he warned, watching as she buckled her shoes up; he figured she had to be bending at the waist on purpose and he couldn't help but check out her legs and arse for a second in appreciation.

"I'm ready," she breathed, feeling nervous.

"It'll be fine," he said, but Hermione wasn't sure if he was saying it for her benefit or his own.

"I knew I should have invited Harry and Ginny; this would be so much more bearable if they were here."

"Yes, I'm sure Ginny would keep all of her sarcastic comments to herself and Harry wouldn't be glaring at Pansy all night for her trying to toss him over to the Dark Lord."

"He would not!" Hermione defended immediately. "Does she actually think that?!"

"Wouldn't you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably," she admitted, stopping by the door beside him and accepting Scorpius as Draco passed him over. "But she was also probably scared out of her mind, and Harry really doesn't hold grudges… he's an amazing person."

"Yes, yes, all hail Potter."

"Stop," Hermione said, trying to suppress her grin, but the teasing stopped immediately upon the ringing of a doorbell. Draco took a deep breath and stepped forward, shaking out his hands to try and dispel his nervousness.

He opened the door and was immediately pounced on by a thin girl with dark shoulder length hair. Pansy was squealing in delight and had Draco in a tight hug, causing Hermione to raise an eyebrow.

But then she let go and Blaise stepped forward, pulling Draco in for one of those odd man hugs, where they wrap one arm around each other awkwardly and clap each other on the back.

"It's been too long," Blaise said, and Hermione glimpsed the wedding ring on his finger as he gripped Draco's shoulder.

Draco agreed and then was greeting another friend as Pansy and Blaise Zabini entered the flat fully, both pulling up short upon seeing Hermione with Scorpius tucked in her arm.

Theodore Nott was right behind them, peeking around Blaise with a look of curiosity that quickly turned to shock.

"Granger?" Theodore said in confusion. "Hermione Granger?"

Hermione quirked her lips into an odd side smile as Draco joined her side.

"Hermione Granger and a baby that looks suspiciously like our very own Draco," Pansy added.

"Hello Pansy, Blaise, Theodore. This is Scorpius," Hermione replied bravely, and Draco wanted to smirk but instead just smiled warmly.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," He said proudly, glad he had taken Hermione's advice. He suddenly really wanted to show off his son, pride rearing in his chest as he settled an arm over Hermione's shoulders.

Pansy squealed, catching Hermione completely off guard as she hurried forward to get a better look at the baby. Hermione really hadn't expected Pansy Zabini, nee Parkinson, to be quite so… well... _girly_.

"He is so adorable! How old is he?"

"Two weeks," Hermione answered.

"Congratulations!" Blaise and Theo said, both clapping Draco on the back and approaching Hermione to get a better look at his offspring.

"Are we waiting for anyone else?" Pansy asked, moving over so the two men could see the baby.

Draco shrugged. "I invited Daphne but I'm not sure she'll show."

Hermione was just about to sigh in sympathy and she noticed that the other former Slytherin students were nodding in understanding when there was a timid knock on the door. Draco's eyebrows jumped as he hurried forward and pulled the door open.

Hermione's jaw almost dropped at the sight of the gorgeous girl on the other side of the door; she did not remember Daphne Greengrass being quite so beautiful in school.

"Daph," Draco breathed, and he was clutching her to his chest the next moment, the girls arms thrown around his shoulders tightly.

Hermione felt significantly awkward.

"Daphne!" Pansy called, moving forward and pulling the other girl into a tight hug, which they held for a while. Hermione was wondering if she had missed something about everyone's relationship with the Greengrass girl, because something seemed off.

Blaise and Theo also gave the girl a warm hug, leaving Hermione and Scorpius standing alone to take in the scene. Hermione really had no idea what was going on and felt a little annoyed that Draco hadn't prepared her for such a strained welcome.

"Come meet Scorpius," Pansy said, gesturing to Hermione. "You remember Granger, of course," she added, and Hermione watched as Daphne's eyes lit up upon falling on the baby.

"Draco! You didn't mention in the letter that you were married and had a child."

Hermione was going to protest Daphne's claims, but Draco grinned and threw his arm around her shoulder again, pulling her and Scorpius closer.

"This is my son, Scorpius, but Hermione and I aren't married. You all would have been invited to my wedding, obviously. Let's take this party to the dining room, where we can get comfortable."

Flippy appeared suddenly to show the entire group to the table, but Hermione hung back beside Draco for a moment. "That felt like a very strained reception," she commented, speaking about Daphne.

"I didn't tell you because I honestly didn't expect her to show, but she had a rough time during the war; I'll explain later."

Hermione nodded and entered the dining room, placing a now sleeping Scorpius into a bassinet against the wall and taking a seat at the table beside Draco.

"He is so beautiful, Draco, and forgive me for saying so, but you really don't look like you've just given birth, Granger," Pansy said, folding her cloth napkin and placing it in her lap.

Draco sighed and Hermione quirked her lips to the side.

"I didn't just give birth," she answered as casually as possible, wondering how that piece of information was going to be received.

Everyone's heads snapped up, looking at Draco in question as he nodded to Flippy and the salad course appeared on their plates.

Hermione was famished and started eating immediately, listening as Draco explained to his friends how Scorpius came to be and how he was dating Hermione and she decided to move in and help him out. His friends seemed surprised by the news, but they were remarkably accepting of Hermione being present, seemingly impressed that she had moved in to help her boyfriend raise his child with another woman.

"So Scorpius will grow up with you thinking you're his mother?" Daphne asked after spearing a tomato onto her fork.

"That's the idea," Draco answered. "We will never lie to him if he asks, but both Hermione and I feel that he needs two parents."

"I think it's great," Daphne replied with a casual shrug, and Pansy nodded her agreement.

"You must really care for them, to be so selfless," Pansy added, looking at Hermione like she hadn't really seen her before.

"You're an excellent girl," Blaise added.

Hermione felt her cheeks reddening, she had never been so thoroughly praised before.

Flippy was just coming to see if they were ready for the next course when the doorbell rang again. Hermione raised an eyebrow and glanced at Draco, who also looked confused, but they got to their feet and approached the front door just in time to see Narcissa take off her coat and fling it at poor tiny Flippy, who fell over beneath the pile of fabric.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

Draco stopped short upon seeing his mother, who had just tossed her cloak at Flippy and knocked her over beneath the voluminous fabric.

"Hang this up, it's expensive," she demanded rudely.

Narcissa's attention was almost immediately caught by the sight of her tall son standing in shock, a small and highly recognizable witch at his side.

"Draco," she said, stepping away from the small elf without a second look. Hermione was watching Flippy struggle with the cloak in concern before she felt Draco take a step away from her.

"Mother," he greeted in an even tone. "What are you doing here?"

"That is no way to greet your mother, Draco, and I received a missive from you and realized you were finally ready to grow up and visit with me."

Hermione saw Draco go slightly rigid, but she steeled herself and stepped forward, taking his hand. He relaxed slightly as her fingers slipped into his, and Narcissa turned her cold eyes to the younger female and gave her an assessing look.

"I wasn't expecting you tonight, I was hoping we could get together sometime next week," Draco said, and Hermione knew he was nervous and uncomfortable with the sudden turn of events.

"No matter, I'm here now. Hello, Miss. Hermione Granger," Narcissa added, somewhat coldly. Hermione started upon the realization that Narcissa knew who she was, but before she could respond in any way whatsoever, Narcissa was sweeping by them, not giving Hermione a second look, and following the sound of voices to the dining room.

"Merlin," Draco breathed, and he wished for nothing more in that moment than a large glass of straight scotch, his throat almost burning with want. He pushed the craving away though and turned slightly wild eyes to Hermione, who was watching him closely.

"I guess we just welcome her?" Hermione asked, knowing this night was about to turn into a disaster. Draco gave a hollow, sarcastic sounding laugh, but nodded anyway and led Hermione back into the dining room by the hand.

Narcissa was seated beside Pansy, having already acquired a chair and dinner plates from Flippy, and Draco and Hermione took their respective seats. The soup course popped into existence and everyone began eating in silence, Pansy glancing between Narcissa and Draco periodically.

Hermione always assumed that Pansy would have gotten on well with Mrs. Malfoy, but seeing that she was almost giving Draco's mother the cold shoulder and looking at Draco with something akin to pity, Hermione had to admit that she was mistaken. She really didn't know anything about Draco's family and friends, and clearly couldn't navigate the odd almost polite way they were terrible to each other.

"I'm so sorry we were unable to attend your nuptials," Narcissa said suddenly, gesturing to the rings on Pansy and Blaise's fingers.

"It was a small ceremony without much fanfare, to be honest," Pansy started. "We only had a couple people present."

"But why?" Narcissa gasped dramatically. "It could have been such a beautiful event if your mother had planned it, I'm sure."

"It was perfect the way it was," Pansy replied deliberately.

"Of course," Narcissa responded, sounding snooty and unimpressed. Hermione felt that Mrs. Malfoy was dismissive and downright rude and Pansy glared at her soup bowl in silence for a moment before Daphne tried to change the subject.

"I haven't seen you at any of my mothers gatherings. Everyone else of the old crowd are there, but you're painfully absent at every single one." she said, and the way that Narcissa stiffened slightly told Hermione that Daphne was purposefully being snide, albeit in a subtle manner.

Hermione was willing to bet that Narcissa had never received an invitation to any of the proposed gatherings being held.

"Yes well, I've been quite busy redecorating the Manor."

Draco snorted quietly, but Narcissa heard and looked up to her son sharply, her eyes cold. Hermione thought the woman was about to let loose, but Scorpius, who had been in his bassinet the entire time, started to make noise.

Hermione hurriedly and gladly pushed her chair back, happy for a reason to flee the awkward tension at the table, and picked Scorpius up gently, rocking him absentmindedly with her back to the table.

"Oh my goodness, Pansy did you have a child?" Narcissa asked pleasantly, and Hermione turned around in time to see Pansy raise her eyebrows and respond with a curt "Not yet."

Narcissa peered through the room at Hermione, clearly trying to ascertain whose child it was, but upon seeing the white blond hair her expression dropped into fierce disapproval.

"Oh Draco," she sighed. "What have you done?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed instantly, her spine stiffening as Draco let out a breath, but instead of responding to his mother he summoned a bottle, warming it to the right temperature before passing it back to Hermione. She took it gratefully and coaxed the nipple into Scorpius' mouth, continuing to rock him as he ate and Narcissa turned to Draco with a serious expression. "How did this happen?!"

"Well, mother, when a man and woman love each other very much-"

Theodore snorted aloud and Blaise placed his spoon down in anticipation, clearly looking forward to what was about to take place. Daphne exchanged a worried look with Pansy before both females glanced at Hermione, looking nervous for her.

"This isn't a laughing matter Draco!"

Draco sighed again, unsure how to navigate the situation without his mother turning into the royal bitch that she was.

"Breastfeeding is much healthier for the child," Narcissa said scathingly when Draco didn't respond immediately. Hermione narrowed her eyes again, but kept quiet, pacing around and continuing to feed Scorpius, who was blinking up at her with eyes that were steadily lightening in colour.

"Scorpius is exclusively bottle fed," Draco replied a little sharply.

"Scorpius," his mother breathed in awe.

"Yes. Scorpius Hyperion."

Everyone was silent for a moment, waiting for the fallout, and no one was disappointed.

"This should not have happened. And his choice in mother? Merlin Draco, what were you thinking?! How did you get that muggle girl, that _mudblood,_ knocked up?! Weren't you taught the contraceptive spell at a young enough age to keep mistakes like this from happening?!"

Draco's face darkened with every word his mother spoke, and Hermione could feel the tension settling down on everyone in the room.

"How dare you?" Draco spoke, he sounded calm enough but his voice was low and Hermione knew that was a sign of his impending outburst. "You will never, ever, disrespect Hermione in my presence or in _our _house ever again. You may feel that it's perfectly alright to use such outdated, prejudiced, and awful language in your own home, but it will not be tolerated here."

"Your house?!" Narcissa all but shrieked. "You mean to tell me that you have allowed that… that… _girl_, to move in with you? You should have given her the boy and kicked them both out of your life upon his birth so you could have an at least _somewhat acceptable_ match!"

Scorpius was starting to fuss in Hermione's arms from the shouting coming from Mrs. Malfoy, and Hermione had never felt so much regret in her life. She had pushed Draco to try and mend things with his mother, something that was clearly a mistake. She didn't care about anything but herself, as far as Hermione could see.

"I don't know where we possibly went wrong with you," Narcissa was continuing, as Draco sat rigidly in his chair. "Honestly, you've managed to be nothing but a disappointment to your father and I, continuously letting us down. Your list of disappointments is large, Draco, but having a child with a mudblood and letting her stick around? Are you absolutely insane?"

Hermione felt sick to her stomach hearing the vile words being spouted by Draco's mother. She wanted to defend herself, but she was clutching the baby to her chest tightly, almost vibrating with anger. She didn't know if she'd even be able to voice her scattered thoughts as her stomach knotted up and her body flushed with her fury.

"You must be the insane one, mother," Draco started, and Hermione stopped moving altogether so she could hear his words. "You come into our home without an invitation and not only insult Hermione, but insult my child as well. While you see the things I've done in my past as a disappointment, I see them as liberation, and I wouldn't change any of my actions except to maybe realize what a joke the life you were forcing to me lead was sooner."

Hermione was frightened by the way Narcissa seemed to expand with her ire, and the woman was on her feet and beside Draco faster than Hermione had anticipated her to move.

She reared her hand back and Hermione realized, in a strange detached way, that Narcissa was about to strike Draco, but his hand snapped forward and gripped his mother's wrist before she could make contact.

"You may have gotten away with that when I was younger, but _never again_."

He hissed the last two words out, his eyes narrowed into slits as he stared down at the woman who birthed him and Scorpius started wailing without preamble, his cries piercing through the room.

Hermione could see that the fight between mother and son was nowhere near over. Narcissa ripped her wrist out of her sons grasp and swung with the other hand, catching Draco off guard.

Pansy, who had jumped up in a flash and followed Narcissa around the table hurtled herself between mother and son, a vicious look on her face.

Hermione happened to glance up and met Daphne's eyes, after a second of staring at each other incredulously, Daphne's eyes dropped to Scorpius, who was flailing around, his face tomato red.

She jerked her head toward the hallway and Hermione turned quickly, leading the beautiful witch down the hallway and away from Narcissa, who was screaming about filth and half-blood Malfoy's before Pansy's screeching voice carried toward her and Daphne.

They hurried through the halls and stepped through Draco's bedroom door, closing it behind her softly behind Daphne as she pressed her lips together tightly, rocking Scorpius to calm him.

She wanted to cry, admitting to herself that she had truly hoped Draco's mother would have come around after Hermione was tortured in her drawing room. She could vaguely remember Narcissa commenting about keeping the muddy blood away from her carpets, but a small part of her always hoped being that cold and uncaring was mostly an act.

Obviously not.

Hermione placed Scorpius on Draco's bed gently before climbing up after him, surrounding the baby with her body and pressing her face to his wispy hair. He smelled good and helped her calm down, but she continued snuggling him, glad that he was no longer screaming bloody murder.

"Are you okay?" Daphne asked, stepping closer to Hermione and Scorpius. "She really is a bitch."

Hermione huffed out a reluctant laugh. "That's putting it mildly."

"I've never liked that woman," Daphne revealed. "Her and her husband are both terrible, and they've always treated Draco horribly. We've all been trying to protect him from himself and his family for as long as I can remember. I'm sorry she said those things to you."

"I should have expected it," Hermione admitted. "I don't know what I was thinking, to be honest. The only thing she had to say while I was being tortured in front of her was to make sure no one got my blood on her precious carpet. Why I expected her to agree with mine and Draco's relationship is beyond me."

Daphne looked stunned by Hermione's words, and she realized that Draco had not told his friends that Hermione had been tortured in his home during the war.

"You were… in the Manor?! Where was Draco?"

Hermione fidgeted for a moment, wondering if she had just somehow thrown Draco under some sort of bus, but she admitted to Daphne after a moment that he was there while it was happening. Before she even knew what was happening, Daphne was standing in front of her with a pained expression, wondering aloud how she could have ever forgiven Draco for something so unforgivable.

"There wasn't really anything he could do, he didn't want to identify us and tried to keep things vague, but he had his parents and his aunt hovering over him, demanding things. I remember looking at him at one point between Crucio's and the look on his face will forever be burned into my memory. He didn't want to be there. He didn't want me to be there, but really, what could he have done?"

Daphne was shocked, words escaping her for a moment as her mouth moved silently. She perched on the side of the bed, careful of Scorpius and making sure she wasn't disturbing him, her hands clasped in her lap tightly.

"You really are an amazing person, aren't you?" she asked, her voice low.

Hermione didn't know how to respond to that assessment, and shrugged lightly.

"I had a hard time during the war, too, but I will never be able to forgive the people involved."

Hermione felt like Daphne was opening up to her, and she desperately wanted to know what the other girl had gone through, she figured it was bad considering the reception she had received. She was going to comment, but was cut off when the door opened and Pansy stormed through, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"That woman is out of her mind!"

"It sounded a lot calmer out there than it did ten minutes ago," Hermione noted, gesturing toward the door.

"Narcissa has left, thank Merlin. Draco sent me to let you know she was gone, for good, apparently. We can only hope."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Daphne, reaching out a hand and placing it on her shoulder in a sign of understanding. Hermione scooped up Scorpius and the girls retreated from Draco's bedroom, and when Hermione entered the dining room she was promptly pulled into Draco's embrace, being careful of Scorpius, who was blinking lazily up at the couple.

Hermione could feel him shaking with repressed rage and she pressed closer to him, trying to relieve him of the last half hour.

"Well, let's not allow that horrible woman to ruin any more of our night," Pansy said forcefully before taking her seat at the table, gesturing at everyone else to sit down. Hermione suppressed a grin as she loaded Scorpius back into his bassinet, but when Pansy called out for Flippy to serve the next course she couldn't help but give in and giggle hysterically for a moment.

She sat beside Draco and took his hand, leaning toward him and whispering a heartfelt thanks for sticking up for her the way he had. He smiled at her and her heart melted as she leaned into him, meeting him halfway for a kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N- Frantic sex scene ahead - warning.**

**Chapter 7**

Hermione watched the door close behind Daphne and let out a breath, she had been waiting for Draco's friends to leave anxiously, but they had stuck around longer than she had expected. Her and Draco had excused themselves for long enough to feed and change Scorpius and put him down in his crib, but they rejoined his friends and continued the visit.

Hermione was shocked to learn that during his argument with his mother, Draco hadn't told her the truth about Ava. He let Narcissa assume Hermione was the baby's mum and never contradicted that conclusion.

She had been waiting hours to ask Draco why.

She turned to him once they were alone, and he looked at her with an eyebrow raised in question.

"Why didn't you tell your mother the truth?" She asked after a moment, watching him closely.

He shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed instantly, her body stiffening, but Draco held his hands out towards her, clearly telling her to hear him out.

"I mean, does it really matter what she does and doesn't know? As far as I'm concerned you're more of a mum to Scorpius than anyone else, and I want it to stay that way. I don't care what she thinks."

Hermione did nothing but stare at him for a moment, her brain moving a mile a minute. Was he trying to say that he couldn't imagine anyone else there, raising his child as their own? That the entire world could think Scorpius was a product of their love making, and not some other witches child?

She all but hurtled across the room toward him, throwing herself into his arms and reaching up to be able to meet his lips with her own.

He groaned, surprised. Hermione had him around the neck and Draco's hands automatically went down to her bum, pulling her closer. Her legs went around his waist as she deepened the kiss, her tongue in his mouth. If the noises he was making were any indication, he didn't seem to mind her forwardness overmuch.

They broke apart after a moment, silver eyes staring softly into brown with an obvious question. Hermione smiled, mentally throwing her mother's advice out the window as she leaned in eagerly to kiss him again.

Draco responded in kind, his fingers digging into her bum as he groaned aloud, carrying Hermione down the hallway toward his bedroom. He pushed the door open and broke the kiss once he was inside, urging her to let go of his neck as he set her on her knees on the mattress.

In a flash, Hermione's hands were efficiently working the buttons of his shirt loose, and once they were undone she yanked his shirt open and ran her hands over the skin of his chest and stomach, coaxing another harsh groan from Draco.

Feeling her small soft hands on his skin had him hard faster than he would have thought possible, and he had the zipper of her dress down in seconds, pulling the straps from her shoulders and spreading quick kisses across her collarbone. Hermione had his belt and trousers undone, her hand dipping beneath his boxers as he let out a gasp.

She stroked him and he struggled to remove her bra, becoming so frustrated that he finally shoved the material up and freed her breasts from their confinement, dipping down to nip and suck at the newly revealed flesh, overwrought by the sensations of her hands on him.

She was moaning now, breathy little sounds that echoed in his ears as he took her nipple into his mouth and bit down gently, her hand tightening around his length with need and desire.

Draco stood quickly and kicked his trousers and boxers to the floor, glancing up at Hermione with heated eyes as he pushed the skirt of her dress up and hooked his fingers through her knickers, pulling them down her impossibly smooth, slender legs.

He wanted to lavish her with attention, but his erection was straining, and he was so hard it was almost painful. Hermione looked impatient herself as she unsnapped her bra and chucked it off to the side.

Draco bundled her skirt up, so that the entirety of her dress was bunched around her waist, and bent over her, latching onto a nipple again as he found the center of her heat.

They groaned in unison as Draco thrust himself quickly inside her, Hermione letting out a little whimper as she sat up and hooked one hand behind his neck. Draco began thrusting deeply, their breaths loud in pants, groans, whimpers, and moans. Hermione started making a sound Draco had never heard before as he reached a hand between them and thumbed her clit.

The hold she had on his neck gave her leverage to thrust herself back onto him, giving as good as she got, and it wasn't long before he felt her tightening around his rigid cock, and before Draco knew it she was lost to ecstasy and thrusting into him wantonly, her walls clamping down around him as she reached orgasm, calling out his name.

He couldn't hold back, grasping her body tightly as he thrust into her as hard and fast as possible. His entire body tightened and he saw stars as he felt his seed release deep into her womb, making her cry out again. He held himself still for a minute, his muscles quivering as Hermione quaked below him, her walls milking him of every ounce, and when Draco felt the tension release from her muscles he moved to the side, taking in the woman before him with something remarkably like awe.

"Holy shit," Draco whispered a few moments later, unable to formulate a better response. He couldn't remember a time sex had been so well…short. Certainly not both short and good, and this had rated quite high on both metrics. He had never come so quickly nor so hard in his entire life.

Hermione nodded breathlessly, her head turned slightly to the side so she could look at him. She felt boneless.

They laid in silence for no more than a minute before Scorpius began crying. Hermione laughed, glad the baby had waited long enough before he began fussing, and groaned as she sat up.

"I'll get him," Draco said, giving her a charming grin as he pulled his boxers back on. He undid the cuffs of his shirt quickly and pulled it off completely, laughing that it had been stuck around his wrists during their sex, and left the room in nothing but boxers.

Hermione admired his arse on his way out the door before she pushed her dress down from around her waist and made her way to the shower.

"Draco?! I'm taking Scorpius to Ginny's, then I think we're going to go to Diagon Alley for a few hours."

Draco wandered down the hall toward the main fireplace, where Hermione was standing with Scorpius. She had him snuggled into her arms and had a diaper bag hanging from her shoulder, a folded up pram at her side.

"Want me to meet up with you for lunch? I should be able to take a break from my brewing around then."

"Sure!"

"Great. Brews and Stews at noon?"

"Sounds great," Hermione answered, reaching up to give him a quick kiss. Their lips touched and Hermione immediately felt the pull toward the man kissing her. Ever since they had been intimate she found herself wanting to have him inside of her daily; she'd never felt that way about any other man before and it thrilled her.

She waved at Draco before stepping into the flames, holding Scorpius tightly and trying to cover his face with her arm. He'd be a month tomorrow, Hermione could hardly believe how fast he was growing.

"Ginny?" She called, stepping from the Floo. She heard a loud thump from above and stopped in her tracks, looking up to the ceiling. There was another thump that sounded out of place in the otherwise quiet home, putting Hermione immediately on edge. She pulled her wand from her pocket slowly; she hadn't survived a war for nothing.

Scorpius was lying quietly in her arms as she made her way up the stairs cautiously, bouncing the boy to keep him happy as she ascended. He was starting to lift his head, but was nowhere near being able to hold it up on his own.

Hermione's ears were perked but she hadn't heard another sound since she called for her friend, so she walked down the hall on silent feet, peering into the open door of James' bedroom as she passed. The boy was asleep in his bed still, which was more than a surprise.

Once she had reached Ginny's bedroom she held the knob, having to hold her wand awkwardly for a moment as she called Ginny's name and swung the door open simultaneously.

"Oh my God!" She screamed, seeing Harry's bare arse first. She watched as he jerked around and ripped the blankets over himself and his wife, who seemed to be dazed and confused at the moment.

"My eyes!" Hermione screamed, turning around abruptly and tripping into the wall. She raised her shoulder to try and shield Scorpius from the corner, ramming into it harder than she had anticipated. Hermione cried out when she felt something in her shoulder rip, tears of pain springing to her eyes immediately.

Her arm began to go numb and she quickly shifted Scorpius to the other arm, gritting her teeth as a horrible pain rippled through her limb whenever she moved.

Hermione stumbled down the stairs, focusing on carrying Scorpius safely as opposed to paying attention to the pain in her arm, and once she was in the sitting room she laid him down gently on the couch. She blocked him in with throw pillows and grit her teeth, trying to remove her jacket as gently as she could, but all it did was cause more pain and make her feel nauseated.

She had seriously hurt herself.

Scorpius began wailing loudly from the couch as Hermione awkwardly felt the front of her hurt shoulder with her good hand. There was a bump on the front that had not been there five minutes earlier and that did not seem like a good thing whatsoever. She could hear James screaming from his bedroom upstairs and closed her eyes for a moment. Not the best way to start anyone's day.

She placed a cooling charm on her shoulder as she tried to decide how to proceed. Scorpius was having a fit so Hermione struggled to pick him back up with her good arm. She couldn't get a good enough hold on his head to make her feel safe moving him, and she began crying in frustration as well as pain. She needed to be able to take care of Scorpius, and the fact that she couldn't even pick him up and comfort him made her feel ashamed.

"Are you joking me, Hermione?!" Harry fumed, steaming down the stairs, blessedly clothed. "You creep into our house, come into our bedroom when the door is closed, and proceed to wake up James. He's screaming bloody murder up there!"

"I – I'm sorry," Hermione stuttered, upset that Harry was actually mad at her. If anything the situation was actually pretty humorous, other than her hurt arm, of course.

"I am so annoyed with you right now it isn't even funny!" He snapped, causing Scorpius to scream even louder. "I finally had a morning alone with my wife and you completely ruined it, barging into our home without even ringing the chime. It's ridiculous!"

Hermione was pissed. She clenched her jaw against the pain in her arm and managed to pick Scorpius up, settling him in the crook of her good arm as she glared at Harry. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks because of the rippling, tearing-like pain in her shoulder.

"Look, I was invited here this morning and as far as I knew you were at work. I heard a couple thumps from upstairs and it scared me, okay?! I hardly knew what I was going to walk in on. So sorry for being concerned about your wife," she snapped, suddenly extremely angry. "I'll just owl Ginny later."

"Hermione," Harry groaned, but it was too late. She stomped across the living room to the fireplace, tipping the bucket of Floo powder on the floor with her foot before kicking some into the fireplace. She turned and glared at Harry one final time before calling out her destination and disappearing in a whirl of green flames.

She arrived at home in a split second, Scorpius flailing around while he screamed bloody murder. Hermione advanced to the sitting room as quickly as she could and eased Scorpius down onto the couch as gently as possible.

She stood back and tried to even her breathing while tears blinded her eyes. She was feeling overwhelmingly frustrated as she wiped at her cheeks furiously.

Her arm bloody _hurt_!

"Hermione?" Draco called in confusion, thundering down the hallway and following the sounds of Scorpius' cries. He entered the sitting room and saw Scorpius flailing around on the couch, his face tomato red and big, fat tears carving tracks down his chubby cheeks. Hermione looked pale and was standing in an awkward position beside the couch, one shoulder lower than the other and tears also spreading down her face.

"What the hell happened?!" He asked as he picked the baby up from the couch and started to rock him, looking at Hermione in confusion. She wouldn't normally stand to the side and let him cry, something was wrong.

She explained as best she could over Scorpius' wailing and the pain in her shoulder. Scorpius began to calm down and was cradled into Draco's elbow crook as he vanished her coat into the entryway closet and eased her jumper to the side, glimpsing the beginning of a bruise and the odd crook in her shoulder.

"We're going to St. Mungo's," he exclaimed, pushing her toward the fireplace the second he saw the way her shoulder bone seemed to be jutting forward.

"No, Draco, it's just –"

But Hermione didn't know what she was going to say and she didn't get a chance to get it out anyway, as Draco was herding her toward the gate without waiting to listen to her.

"St. Mungo's" he called, pushing her through.

Anyone who was at the hospital that day had been rewarded with seeing Draco Malfoy, ex-Death Eater, storm through one of the fireplaces behind a crying Hermione Granger with a look alike baby in his arms. Once they got to the reception desk he had a quick conversation with the witch, who kept glancing at Hermione with something akin to idolization. It took almost no time to check her in, and Draco led her toward the seating area with and arm around her shoulder, tucking her into his side as the baby blinked around the room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

A woman was sat in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, watching the scene before her in interest. Did anyone know that Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were even together? That they had a child? Oh, this was going to be the best gossip anyone had heard since the lead singer of the Weird Sisters was arrested for smuggling magic carpets into England.

She eyed the interaction between the little family, the Granger girl in tears as she held her one arm awkwardly, the Malfoy heir looking angry, and the tiny baby blinking owlishly around the room.

The vile Malfoy boy leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on top of the girls head before he hitched the baby higher into his arms. He whispered something and got to his feet, swaying the baby with practiced ease to keep him calm.

"Draco," the war heroine all but cried, "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to take Scorpius to a babysitter."

"Do not take him to Harry, do you hear me?! I'm mad at him!"

Draco took a breath, backing away from the angry witch. "I'll take him to Pansy. I'll be back right away."

Then, most shocking of all, Draco Malfoy leant forward and kissed Hermione Granger square on the mouth.

There was a collective gasp from everyone in the waiting area and the old witch looked around in interest. She'd better get to Witch Weekly quickly so she could spread the news before any of the busybodies in the waiting area could beat her to it.

/

Draco was back in mere minutes, but this time when he stepped from the Floo there were reporters everywhere.

He groaned. He had done so well staying out of the press the last couple years. He was glad that he had taken Scorpius somewhere safe, though. You could never be too sure about the fanatics out there, and having pictures of his son all over the newspapers didn't sound like a good idea.

"Mr. Malfoy," they were calling in unison, each vying for his attention. He ignored them and looked around for Hermione, but she wasn't where he had left her.

"What is going on between you and Miss Granger? Is it true that you have a love child with the heroic witch?!"

"What do her friends think about your relationship?"

"Is it your fault she needs to be hospitalized?"

"This way, Mr. Malfoy. We've taken Miss Granger to a private room to wait for the next available Healer."

Draco hurried after the Healer speaking to him, trying to get away from the press as quickly as he could. What a nightmare.

The healer led him a short way down the corridor to a private room and he entered quickly, slamming the door behind him. Hermione was sitting on an exam table, tears still falling steadily from her eyes.

"They haven't even given you a potion for the pain yet?" he asked angrily upon seeing her crying.

"No," Hermione answered, her nose running.

Draco hovered around her while they waited another few minutes for a healer, and once the man was finally in the room Draco stayed close to her side.

"What happened, Miss Granger?"

"I was at my friend's house earlier and I was startled and tripped into the wall. I was carrying Scorpius and turned on instinct to protect him from the corner and hit my shoulder into it harder than I expected. I must have caught it at a strange angle and had this instant tearing feeling, then my arm started to tingle and go numb."

"So you tripped into a wall? Is that what you're saying?" the healer asked, turning his eyes to Draco for a split second.

Draco tensed immediately, understanding exactly what the healer was trying to get at.

"Basically, yes," Hermione answered, missing the look on the Healer's face as she wiped at her eyes with her good arm.

"Okay," the healer answered in a tone that said he clearly didn't believe the story he had heard so many times before. "Let's take a look then."

The healer inspected Hermione's shoulder and let out a tiny hiss. "It seems as though you've managed to dislocate the glenohumeral joint in your arm, Miss Granger. Not an easy feat. It won't take much to heal, although popping it back into place is going to be extremely painful. We can put you under for the procedure while we get it back into place so you don't vomit or faint."

"No, no," Hermione demurred. "I couldn't possibly be sedated. Not with a one-month-old child."

"Hermione, take the sedation. I'm home all day today so Scorpius won't be left unattended."

"No thank you, I would really rather not."

"Well, I can't force you. You do have to understand that dislocations such as the one you've attained can repeat themselves in the future, so you will need to be a little more careful."

The healer's eyes flicked to Draco again and this time Hermione caught it.

"What exactly are you trying to insinuate here?" Draco asked through clenched teeth.

"I hear this story all the time, Mr. Malfoy. It's very common from abused wives."

Hermione grunted as she sat up straighter, offended.

"Excuse me, Healer Johnson, is it? I've told you the truth about what happened and Draco wasn't even with me at the time. You're here to heal my shoulder and if you don't do exactly what you should be doing and stop trying to make me sound abused, I will have no problem going to the board."

"Well, it's just with Mr. Malfoy's past, it isn't that hard to believe-"

"That's enough," Hermione hissed, scooting forward on the table so she could step down.

"Hermione, calm down. Just let him fix your arm and we can get out of here."

"No," she snarled. "He can't just stand here and talk about you that way right to our faces. This is completely unacceptable!" Hermione was losing her cool, her voice rising louder and louder as she spoke. She was so absolutely offended about what the healer was trying to say that she wanted to puke. "I want a new healer and I want a new healer right now!" She screamed, losing control.

Draco flinched and backed away slightly, watching Healer Johnson, who seemed to realize much too late that his opinion was not wanted.

"Get out of here!" She yelled at the man, but he refused. He grabbed Hermione by the hurt arm and pulled, causing her to scream out in agony as he forced her arm joint back into place.

Draco watched as her face paled before turning a sickly shade of green. Another healer must have heard Hermione yelling at Johnson, and just before he forced her arm joint back into place the door opened. The agonized scream tearing from Hermione's throat echoed out into the hallways as Draco rushed forward. He gripped Hermione around the waist as she lost consciousness, going limp in his arms, her face deathly white, the open door allowing everyone else a view into the room.

Draco thought he saw a light bulb flash from the corridor.

"How dare you?" He thundered, turning his head toward the healer. Hate was radiating from his mercurial eyes as he lifted Hermione more securely into his arms. "How fucking dare you do that to her?! I want you fired!"

"No one takes orders from a Malfoy, anymore," the healer replied, but he wasn't looking so sure of himself now that the deed was done.

"You just physically attacked my girlfriend!" There was an intake of breath from the hallway and the healer that had entered the room looked horrified about what she had seen. "She fainted, for fuck sakes! I want you gone, I want him gone!" Draco roared, and Healer Johnson was pulled from the room.

Draco pulled Hermione into his chest, carrying her bridal style. She was clammy and pale and everyone in the hallway, including the reporters, stayed silent as they passed. Draco could hear the scratching of their quills on parchment, but he was glad they didn't open their mouths and try to ask him any questions.

Draco took Hermione home and got her into bed, putting his house elf on watch while he went to run a few errands.

His first stop was the Potter household.

The family was sitting at the breakfast table, and Ginny smiled when Draco came through the Floo. Harry took one look at his face and knew the Malfoy heir was angry.

"I didn't mean to kick her out," Harry said at once. "I was annoyed since I was finally getting an opportunity to shag my wife and she interrupted it."

"I don't care about your stupid excuses, Potter. Hermione floo'd into our home crying her eyes out and her shoulder looked completely broken, it wasn't, apparently it was just a bad dislocation, but still!"

Harry looked horrified and Ginny turned to her husband, glaring.

"I didn't know," he began to defend himself, but Draco didn't want to hear it.

"I know you didn't know!" Draco all but yelled. "You were so upset about not being able to shag that you didn't care to see if anything had happened to her while she tripped into the wall. You didn't actually think she was crying because you were upset with her, did you?"

"I… well… yeah, kind of."

"Oh my Merlin, Harry."

"I expect you there tonight for dinner with apologies on hand."

"Of course, Draco," Ginny replied in a placating manner. "We will bring dessert."

"Excellent."

Draco's next stop was Pansy's house to pick up his son.

"Draco," she greeted from the kitchen. Scorpius was tucked into a transfigured bassinet beside the table as Pansy sipped from a teacup. "He's such a little darling, went right to sleep when you left and has been there since."

"Good," Draco said, dropping into a chair and sighing.

"Care to tell me what happened, now? Since you all but threw your child at me and ran?"

Draco huffed a laugh but sobered as he explained what had happened to Hermione. Pansy looked downright vicious as he told her about how the Healer had treated her.

"Is it going to always be like this, Pansy? Will she be mistreated and alienated because of the fact that she's with me?"

Pansy stared at him for a moment before shrugging a shoulder daintily. "I can't say, Draco, but you know as well as I do that she isn't going to turn away from you based on what other people think. As far as I can remember she's always done what she wanted, despite what other people would think about her."

Draco agreed, knowing his friend was right. He was angry about what had occured that morning, but he was sure Hermione would be too, and he thought they would be able to tackle the problem together.

"Well I should get back. I want to be there when she wakes up."

Pansy nodded and watched as Draco carefully lifted Scorpius from the bassinet. "If you and Blaise want to come by for dinner later, feel free. Potter and his wife are going to join us as well. It might be a good opportunity to spend a little time together, Hermione was making noise about doing weekly dinners, and I dare you to turn her down."

Pansy laughed and said she would see if Blaise was up for it when he returned from France, but not to get his hopes up. She figured her husband would be tired by the time he finished packing the rest of their things and bringing them back to England.

After their group dinner Pansy had declared that she missed her friends and would need to be there to be the best aunt ever to Scorpius, and Pansy often got what she wanted.

Hermione awoke in her bedroom alone. Her arm was stinging painfully but she pushed herself up and rolled out of bed. She had no idea how she had gotten there, had no idea what time it was, and didn't know where Draco or Scorpius were.

She shuffled down the hallway, her arm held against her stomach as she searched for her boys. Then she heard it. It sounded like they were in the sitting area, and Draco seemed to be talking to his son.

"You love her, don't you buddy? She's a great mother to you, that's for sure. I often wonder how it would be if you were her biological son. I don't think she could love you more, to be honest. She protected you today at Potter's house and she protected me at the hospital. It's nice when someone cares, huh buddy?"

"You're ridiculous," she said, moving in to the room. Draco jumped and reddened, realizing Hermione had heard everything he had said to his son. They made quite the little scene, Draco was laying on his back and had Scorpius balanced on his stomach, the baby blinking his big eyes at the ceiling as Draco held onto his hands.

"I wouldn't love you anymore if you were biologically mine, mister," she cooed, carefully getting onto the floor in front of Draco's legs and lifting the baby into her lap. Her arm twinged when she started lifting and she grunted a bit, but ignored it. "I care about you more than you know, Draco, despite the fact that you snore, fart, and hog all the blankets."

Draco looked so offended in that moment that Hermione couldn't help the peal of laughter that tore from her throat. She was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face, and that was the moment Harry stepped from the Floo with an armload of bags. Ginny followed soon after with James on her hip, but the toddler was antsy and wanted down almost immediately.

"Auntie Herminy!" he squealed, rushing toward her in nothing but a diaper.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"James has decided that he no longer wants to wear clothes and I am tired of fighting him about it," Ginny said with a shrug.

"What happened to your hair?" Harry asked, staring straight at Hermione in concern. She looked at him in confusion for a moment before reaching up with her good arm and feeling the nest atop her head.

"She just woke up," Draco explained, passing her a hair tie from the side table.

Hermione sighed and reached up to put her hair in a bun, but her arm twinged painfully and she groaned again, dropping the hair tie on Scorpius' leg. Draco sighed and picked the hair tie up before beginning to gather Hermione's huge amount of hair into a bun atop her head.

"He must really love you if he's able to put up with that hair every morning," Ginny said, laughter dancing in her eyes.

Both Draco and Hermione blushed, unwilling to comment on that.

"I'm really sorry about earlier, Hermione," Harry said once he was settled onto a couch. "But I come bearing gifts!"

Hermione's eyes lit up, and she bounced a few times on the floor, careful to not wake Scorpius, who had drifted back to sleep in her arms. Draco finished with her hair and pulled the baby from her arms and placed him in a cot beside the couch so she could focus on the bags Harry had brought into the sitting room with him.

"Can I help open them?" James asked in excitement.

"Of course," Hermione answered. They were just regular bags so there was really no way the toddler could make a huge mess. She opened the first bag and was confused as she pulled out a toy-sized television.

"Harry? What are you playing at?"

Her friend grinned as he plucked it from her hand and set it on the table before he aimed his wand at the tiny television, causing it to expand to its regular size.

"You bought me a TV?"

"An entire entertainment system, actually. I noticed the last, and only, time I was here that this house is boring and there's nothing to do. I figured we could liven the place up a bit!"

"Oi!" Draco called. "There's plenty to do! We have a small library!"

"Joy," Harry answered, in a way that clearly said he didn't find that acceptable at all. "Anyway, I've learned to make them play by the magic particles in the air, so now you can show Draco how the other half lives."

"What is it?" Draco asked in confusion, reaching forward to knock on the glass front.

"A telly. It has moving pictures on it that make up stories, called television shows. Thank you, Harry, but you have to set it up."

"I expected no less," He said with a nod.

"Let the men deal with this, Hermione," Ginny said. "I need tea."

Hermione nodded and grimaced as she tried to get up without pushing too hard on her arm.

"I thought they fixed it?" Ginny asked in confusion as Draco helped her to her feet.

"Not really," Draco growled, anger evident. He then explained what had happened and how he had ended up just hauling Hermione into his arms and leaving the place without the proper aid.

"You have got to be joking me," Harry replied. "That is not okay."

"He also thought that because I went in there with a hurt shoulder that Draco was abusing me! Because "It's not hard to come to that conclusion with Mr. Malfoy's past.""

Harry turned around quickly and looked at both Hermione and Draco. She seemed upset, and it was clear she was still in pain. Draco was obviously embarrassed that being associated with him was causing Hermione issues. He knew the healer had hurt her the way he had because she was there with Draco Malfoy and defending him.

"Let's go," Harry said, looking at Draco seriously.

"Where?" Hermione asked from the kitchen.

"We have a few things to straighten out."

"They won't listen, Potter. No one cares about us Malfoy's."

"It is completely unacceptable, and I'm not going to fight your battles for you, but I think I could help persuade the hospital that they need to reevaluate their staffing."

Draco looked like he was going to argue, but Hermione suddenly sniffled from beside him and he looked at her in alarm.

"What if something happened to Scorp, Draco? Would they hurt him, too?"

And that was food for thought, wasn't it?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

"Well, it's happened," Hermione groaned from the breakfast table after taking a quick glimpse at the front page of the Daily Prophet. She was holding a bottle to Scorpius' mouth idly while Draco was brewing tea in the kitchen.

"What has?" he asked, turning to her in confusion. He had a meeting later that day, but plenty of time to sit with his family for a little while.

"The speculation."

Draco looked over and was appalled to see a photo of him gripping a pale faced, obviously unconscious Hermione in his arms while he screamed at a Healer, the tendons in his next standing out with his ire.

"What does it say?" Draco asked, carrying her a mug of tea and setting it down beside the newspaper. Hermione spread the pages open so her and Draco were able to read the story simultaneously.

"_Healing or Howling? _

_Outrageous Behaviour at St. Mungo's Hospital_

_Rita Skeeter, daily correspondent_

_Shocking events at St. Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries on Thursday last left several families shaken and perturbed. Your faithful correspondent has the whole scoop._

_Hermione Granger, 24, war heroine, Order of Merlin First Class, was practically dragged into the hospital by notorious former Death Eater Draco Malfoy, 23, of Wiltshire. Readers will remember that the heir to the Malfoy fortune participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, nearly causing the death of the Boy Who Lived with recklessly cast Fiendfyre that destroyed a historic chamber of the castle. No one knows why the alleged couple were at the hospital, nor why the brilliant Miss Granger was in such questionable company. It was clear that Miss Granger had suffered some sort of accident – hardly surprising given her choice of companion. Healers at St. Mungo's have refused to answer questions about Miss Granger's condition, or the allegations of abuse by Mr. Malfoy. While Mr. Malfoy has not been charged with any crimes by Magical Law Enforcement and does of course enjoy the presumption of innocence, as head of the MLE was quite persistent in reminding your correspondent, such behavior does not seem outrageous given his past._

_And what was Miss Granger doing in such company? She is, as our regular readers are quite aware, bosom friend to Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived (23, Order of Merlin First Class and a celebrated Auror for the Ministry of Magic). And bosom friend indeed, for readers will recall that a younger Miss Granger spent her years at Hogwarts toying with the Chosen Heart, playing with his feelings using not only international Quidditch star Viktor Krum, a fellow Seeker, but Mr. Potter's very best friend, Ronald Weasley, (23, Order of Merlin First Class and last year's second line Keeper for the Chudley Cannons). Perhaps lack of success led to drastic measures on Miss Granger's part, as Harry Potter is happily married and a wonderful father? Perhaps Miss Granger simply missed being in the spotlight and wished to garner the Wizarding World's attention. Regardless, our readers must hope that her friends can get through to her, for this "bad boy" has quite a Dark side. Well-wishers in the hospital expressed concern for her condition, having heard a Healer indicate she may have been beaten by an angry looking Mr. Malfoy. Many of our readers have owled us with similar wishes for Miss Granger's safety and health._

_After all, this reporter personally witnessed a physical altercation between Miss Granger and the healer in question after some heated words, causing her to faint. Small wonder; battered witches often feel unable to ask for help and are of such frail constitution that they cannot fight for themselves. Such proved the case, as Mr. Malfoy whisked the unconscious Miss Granger away before her Healer was able to conduct a full examination. Our war heroine deserves better treatment, despite her apparently ongoing obsession with Harry Potter. She must return to St. Mungo's for treatment if she is ever to find happiness and love._

_And what of the baby? For there definitely was a baby, by all accounts every inch a Malfoy heir in appearance. How deeply might Mr. Malfoy have abused her? How can the Ministry allow such a scandal? Perhaps the Malfoy name still carries its weight in Galleons, for an anonymous source within St. Mungo's revealed that Mr. Malfoy returned hours later, furious, to speak to the Chief Healer and that, as the result and after much shouting, the Healer who attended Miss Granger has been suspended. Can the word of a Death Eater have so much influence? Perhaps it can. Mr. Malfoy's father, Lucius Malfoy, 51, will be released from Azkaban prison a scant two weeks from now. Recall that he will be the first Death Eater released and that no others were awarded sentences less than twenty years for what one assumes to be equally heinous crimes. One wonders what his reaction will be to a half-blooded grandson. Many have cried out for the baby's removal, for his own safety._

_Are they a couple?! Is the baby their love child? Your correspondent has tried to procure interviews with all of those connected to the ersatz lovebirds, but no one has been cooperative. Will Draco Malfoy keep the famous muggleborn witch around after his father is released? Something tells us that Hermione Granger and the unknown baby will be on the streets the second Lucius Malfoy is apparated from the dank, moldy island that houses Azkaban Prison."_

Hermione was speechless; she had felt her jaw drop while reading the first paragraph, and things just escalated and got even more nightmarish the more she read.

"How dare she?" Hermione seethed beneath her breath, catching Draco's wide eyes as he finished the story and looked at her. "This will be retracted," Hermione swore, plucking the bottle from Scorpius' mouth and marching away with a determined stride.

Draco didn't know what to do for a solid five seconds, sitting in shock at the accusations that had been hurled at him from the front page of a newspaper. He had no idea the actions of a day over a week ago would have such devastating effects on his family; he thought he had been helping Hermione in that moment, but apparently it just made things worse.

He got to his feet heavily and followed Hermione down the hall slowly, he could hear her moving around in Scorpius' room, and the angry mutterings coming from the bedroom reminded him of a nest of bees.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked as he stepped warily into the bedroom; he was so tired. He made mistakes when he was a child, that was obvious, and he hadn't even been the idiot to start the damned Fiendfyre in the room, but it seemed as though the negativity would follow him around for the rest of his life. He wanted a drink.

"I'm getting Scorpius dressed," Hermione said as she snapped up the front buttons of a sleeper. "If that bitch thinks she can get away with this, she has another thing coming. She will not get away with disparaging my family this way." Hermione was angry, though her movements while dressing the baby were gentle.

"I don't think anything we say will make a difference," Draco noted, his throat absolutely burning for whiskey.

"Well I am not just going to sit here and let her get away with this. It will be retracted." She put tiny socks on Scorpius' feet and picked up, laying him over her shoulder now that his neck was getting stronger.

"Come on Draco, get dressed," she said, pointing to the doorway. "This is serious."

"I don't know if it will make things better, though. Last week I was taking my injured girlfriend to the hospital and look at how that turned out."

Hermione stopped and looked at him for the first time, noting that he looked a little paler than she was used to. "You did nothing wrong, Draco, and we're going to prove that. You didn't hurt me that day, you certainly didn't rape me and get me pregnant… this woman has had it out for me for years. We're fixing this, so please, let's go get dressed."

Scorpius was in Hermione's arms, his butt nudged into her elbow crook, and he turned his head and looked right at Draco, almost pleading with him to listen.

Hermione walked away the next second, going to get ready, and Draco followed again. They began dressing, Draco pulling on a pair of dress pants and a button down, and as he buttoned the cuffs he stopped and watched Hermione, who was pulling her hair into a messy bun.

"I don't want the world to know that you aren't Scorpius' mum," he said suddenly, causing Hermione to turn to him sharply. Scorpius was on a blanket on the floor enjoying some 'tummy time' while Hermione was marching around the room, but she stopped in her tracks when Draco spoke.

"I was going to try and leave Scorpius out of it altogether," Hermione admitted.

"You know that won't work, Hermione. She's going to grill us both about anything and everything."

Hermione sighed, knowing he was right. "Then what should we do?"

Draco bit his lip, the odd movement catching Hermione off guard. He seemed nervous as he ran a hand through his hair.

"You're in this for the long run, right?" he asked, looking adorably vulnerable.

"You know that I am," Hermione responded, unable to resist approaching Draco and pulling him into a comforting hug. Scorpius was making cooing noises from the floor and Draco was unable to stop cracking a small smile.

"How would you feel about publicly claiming him as yours?" He asked, pulling away so he could look into Hermione's eyes, which we rapidly tearing up.

"I would love nothing more."

"You understand the significance of this, right?"

"Of course I do, everyone would believe that he was biologically my child - I love him like he is mine, Draco."

"I know," he responded with a small smile, wiping his thumbs beneath her eyes to catch the moisture. "I love you, Hermione Granger."

She smiled and her eyes refilled as she replied, "I love you too."

Their lips had just touched when they heard someone calling out from the floo. Hermione groaned and Draco huffed a breath before he turned away and made his way, sans shoes and a jacket, to see who was entering their home.

Draco strode down the hallway and got to the living room in time to see Harry emerging from the fireplace.

"Have you seen this?" He shouted angrily, brandishing the newspaper over his head. "I cut out on work today so we can get this… this… _travesty_ sorted. How dare this woman?"

Harry Potter was well and truly pissed off. Ginny and James emerged from behind him and the redhead's eyes were narrowed, her mouth in a thin line.

"Where is she?" she asked stonily, and Draco gestured to the hallway quickly, more than happy to avoid the legendary Weasley temper. The thought had just flicked through his brain when King Weasley himself came barrelling out of the fireplace, his face red and clashing terribly with his hair.

"Oh, you guys have all seen it then," he acknowledged, seeming to deflate before their eyes. Lavender and Rose came into the house behind him and Draco immediately told the witch where Hermione and Ginny were, she nodded once and disappeared into the back of the flat.

"I don't know where this bitch gets off," Harry spat, the newspaper now hanging loosely from his hand. "How can she possibly think she can get away with spreading these lies?"

Draco just shrugged non committedly and was more than happy just standing by while Harry and Ron bickered about how to go about fixing things. Ron was spouting off a far fetched idea that included a mason jar and perfectly timed spell, but he cut himself off as the floo, yet again, roared to life.

Pansy sauntered out, doing a good job at keeping control of herself; Blaise followed, looking resigned and amused by his wife.

"I swear to Merlin, Draco, I will charm a steel cage so she will never be able to get out and keep her in my basement. Either that or burn the entirety of Quick Quote Quills on the market."

Ron snorted, finding the comment hilarious, before looking shocked he would find something said by Pansy Parkinson… _funny_.

"I'm sure Granger will have a plan," Blaise commented, leaning against the wall casually and watching everyone around him. "A plan that doesn't land us all in prison," he reiterated as Pansy opened her mouth. She huffed before twirling around and heading down the hallway, her footsteps loud on the wooden floor.

"Hermione said that she will claim Scorpius as her own, I know that much," Draco informed the other males. No one looked surprised and Draco couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow in amusement; apparently they were all waiting for this. "The rest, I'm unsure about at this point."

"I'll obviously be able to provide testimony about the day of the hospital trip."

"A testimony, Potter? Merlin, they aren't going on trial.

"Aren't they?" Ron replied to Blaise, an eyebrow raised in question.

Blaise opened his mouth to respond before closing it again. "Well, I guess you're right about that. Trial in front of a lot of judges, too; the entirety of Wizarding Britain."

"Right that," Ron answered, heading into the kitchen.

"Help yourself," Draco muttered as the fridge opened from the other room, causing Harry to grin for a moment before they all followed to the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Hermione and Draco's abandoned Daily Prophet was laying on the table, and Harry slammed the one in his hand down on top of it.

"She won't have a job much longer if she keeps this up," he said, referring to Skeeter.

"The public love her," Draco corrected. "Regardless of whether she's right or wrong."

"Well she's messing with the wrong people this time," Ron tossed out as he pulled a casserole dish from the fridge.

"She's always messed with you guys," Draco pointed out.

"Well, we're older now," Ron said as he dug shepherd's pie from the dish and put it into a bowl. "And Hermione is ruthless; when she was younger she tried to tamp it down a little bit I think, scared of breaking the rules and whatever, but now that we're older she's much more willing to "do what needs to be done', as she puts it."

Harry nodded in agreeance. "She's bloody terrifying."

Blaise couldn't help but laugh, and the ladies entered the room with the babies at that moment. Hermione looked so innocent and _good _that he could hardly imagine her being able to string someone up by their balls and make demands.

"Draco!" she reprimanded, causing her boyfriend to jump. "Seriously, go finish getting ready! We have things to do today."

Draco got to his feet quickly and reminded everyone he had to go to a meeting that afternoon before excusing himself to get dressed.

Blaise snickered behind his hand.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N - I just wanted to throw out a quick note and let you all know how sorry I am for taking so long with this update. We got news on Easter weekend that my grandma passed way, so we basically had to drop everything we were doing, load up the vehicle, and head for Oregon (14 hour drive!) Since we were down there we had decided to make the best of it and do some touristy things, so I was actually out of the country (without a laptop) for about 2 weeks.

Also I just wanted to explain that I have made a decision to open up my Instagram handle to everyone, so if you feel like following a slightly boring fanfiction author, you can find me at "Noisyninjadinosaur" (also my Tumblr handle).

**Chapter 10**

Rita Skeeter was feeling rather smug indeed as she sipped from an ugly gilded teacup. She was behind her desk at the Daily Prophet's London office, dictating to her infamous Quick Quotes Quill.

Mid sentence, Rita's door was thrown open roughly and in stormed Hermione Granger with that adorable baby in her arms, her posse close behind.

"Hello, Miss Granger, yes please do come in," Rita said sarcastically, but she gave a toothy grin and fixed her spectacles before she pushed her teacup away and steepled her fingers. No need to inform anyone that her quill was busy scribbling about them and their scant greeting; if they couldn't see it that was their problem. They certainly knew she liked to use one.

"Mr. Malfoy, a pleasure, I'm sure."

Draco didn't respond, just entered the room and stayed near the door, almost as if ready to flee at any moment. Pansy and Blaise had decided to go back home, not all that keen on showing up in the offices of the Daily Prophet; they didn't need anymore negativity cast upon them. Harry Potter stepped through the door behind Draco and approached Rita's desk before slamming down the article in the newspaper harshly, jarring the half-empty tea cup.

Rita raised an eyebrow, but Hermione approached her, standing her ground beside Harry.

"I demand a full retraction of this rubbish," she demanded, gesturing to the newspaper. "I don't know how it was approved to be in the paper, but it's lies and I will not have myself and my family drug through the coals because of your pathetic grudge."

"Is it lies, though?" Rita asked cheerily, seeing a new article forming before her very eyes. "Terribly sad… an exclusive interview would set the record straight, quite nice, don't you think, Harry?"

"Most of it is absolute balderdash," Hermione conceded. "I will admit that the part about Scorpius existing, as you can see, is true, although he wasn't conceived through rape or any other nefarious means."

Harry blanched before drawing attention back to himself. "If there isn't a full retraction I swear to Merlin I will buy this sham of a newspaper and have you out on your arse before you can say 'Quick Quotes.'"

Ron appeared at that moment, the owner and Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper trailing meekly behind him.

"You cannot just storm into our offices and demand our attention, Mr., uh, Wellsby. This is a fully running publication and we have daily editions going out at all hours. We simply do not have time for this."

The man was portly and had a large, curled moustache and beady, hungry little eyes. Hermione instantly disliked him.

"If you don't fix this you will have no paper at all, because I will ruin you myself," Harry snarled, and Hermione almost cheered aloud when she saw the shady man blink in recognition and swallow harshly. Then his eyes took on a shrewd look and Hermione unconsciously held Scorpius closer to her chest.

"We will do a full retraction if we can make a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Draco asked, speaking for the first time. He was leaning against the wall by the door, his arms crossed loosely in front of his body and his right leg bent at the knee, his foot pressed against the wall. He looked completely at ease, but Hermione could tell by the set of his jaw that he was angry.

"Bi-monthly articles from each family for at least two years, updating the world on your lives and children. All of your children have been kept from the eyes of the Wizarding World all of this time, but if we had exclusive rights to the goings-on in your lives, everyone would be eating up our papers. You're all still very famous, you know."

Hermione clenched her jaw, but watched in fascination as Harry and Ron looked ready to draw on the slimy old grubber, Ginny and Lavender nodding grimly from the side lines, not all that comfortable with the threat of ruining people's lives by taking away their means of living. Ginny knew what it was like to struggle for money, so she preferred a deal as opposed to being partly responsible for people losing their jobs and livelihood.

"I won't agree until we have some more terms in place," Hermione said stubbornly, eating the tension. "First, the retraction has to be front and center in the paper, at least half a page... not just some tiny little note on the back page. I want all of the accusations against Draco personally apologized for and replaced with all of the great things he is doing now. If there is even one modicum of untruth in any of the resulting publications I will cut the deal off and do everything in my power to bring you down. Nothing about any of our families will go to press until I have reviewed it and approved all of the writings, so you might want to do away with that little quill, Miss Skeeter."

The beady eyed man looked at her in annoyance for a split second before it was replaced with a smug little grin. "Deal." She assumed that either way he was going to be getting exclusive articles and selling more papers than he had previously.

"Second," growled Hermione, "you'll do nothing so interfering with the children as a bi-monthly article. We will agree to each family, once every three months, for a total of four articles per family per year. We will provide you with family photos and meet with your correspondent - not Rita - but you will leave our children alone." She looked fierce, despite the infant held protectively in her arms… or because of him?

The man's thin lips twisted in a moue of disgust and he looked ready to argue. He looked about to speak when Harry cut him off. "Take it or leave it. We are happy to walk away and ruin this paper."

Adam's apple bobbing, the man swallowed, then nodded.

"Fine," Hermione huffed as he backed out of Rita's office. "Let's start with the retraction then, since most of your article was complete lies."

Rita wiped the sour look off of her face and took a deep breath through her nose; Hermione could tell she was annoyed and gave her a sarcastic smile before hitching Scorpius up onto her hip.

"This is my son, Scorpius Malfoy; Draco is his father and we have been together for quite some time. He is the most precious baby and is not a product of anything other than love."

Rita grit her teeth but allowed Hermione to ruthlessly point out every lie and mistake she had written previously, trying to remind herself that sometimes the truth was much more interesting.

Draco couldn't handle it.

Once the retraction of the article was complete, which took much too long for his current state of mind, he bowed out of lunch with Hermione and her friends. He told them all that he had work to do, and he _was_ supposed to attend the office that afternoon for a meeting, but as he rushed to the nearest pub he could find he stopped for mere moments at an owl post and sent a letter, backing out of his responsibilities for that day.

He could hardly believe that Hermione had agreed to have their lives on display for at least the next two years, allowing the entirety of the Wizarding World to look in on their private lives. Draco had been keeping to himself for a long time, unable and unwilling to open himself up to people, to let people into his life, and to see his son. Hermione was an exception to the rule.

But he didn't want Scorpius on display, having to send four photos of the boy a year to the rag of a newspaper. The worst part about it all was that she hadn't even consulted him before making the deal. She had gone ahead with her stubbornness and made a deal involving both him and his son, promising to have Scorpius at least somewhat on display, and Draco felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

Did she not understand that Scorpius was a _Malfoy_, did she not see the potential risk and harm she had placed the boy in by agreeing to send in photos? He would be targeted at the very least and surely used against Draco by the more unsavoury people in their world.

He was frustrated. Upset. He needed a bloody drink.

He needed to shut off his mind and stop feeling for just a little while. He was only going to have a couple drinks anyway, and he had been doing so well staying sober that he really did deserve to quench his unending thirst for just one day.

After his third drink of straight whiskey on the rocks, he started to feel a little numb, which was exactly what he was hoping for. He hadn't had a drink in so long it wasn't taking much to bring back that familiar feeling of being free, no worries bringing him down.

Scorpius was with Hermione and Draco knew she wouldn't allow anything to happen to him, so for the first time in over a year he let everything go, drained his glass, and raised his hand to signal to the bartender he wanted a refill.

Hermione had an enjoyable lunch with her friends, celebrating that the awful article Rita had written was going to be replaced the next day with a retraction. Hermione knew that once words were out there it was hard to make people forget, but she was hoping since it was replaced with true information about her family that people would read it and take it in, replacing the lies they had in their heads.

She raised an eyebrow when Draco hastily fled after giving both her and Scorpius a quick kiss, seeming like he couldn't get away from them fast enough. He hadn't said much at all throughout the morning, but she knew he had a work meeting that afternoon, so he was probably just sidetracked.

Once lunch was over Hermione and her friends went their separate ways, Harry indicating that since he had taken the entire day off he had plans for him and his wife. Ron gagged aloud, jokingly, and Hermione slapped him on the arm before gathering Scorpius up and heading home.

Hermione spent her day reading while Scorpius played on the floor with his toys, which Hermione had charmed to hang above him so he could reach for them. She could hardly tear her eyes away from him for long enough to read an entire page at a time, and she didn't realize the love she could have for something so new and young. She was with him day in and day out but still couldn't get enough of him; watching him grow was fascinating.

She was starting to get concerned when Draco didn't show up in time for dinner, but she shrugged it off, thinking his meeting must have run late and something held him up.

Hermione and Scorpius had dinner, and then she spent time giving the baby a soothing bath, washing his blond hair gently and making him giggle aloud with the washcloth. After his bath was finished she dressed him in a sleeper and carried him around for a bit, suddenly beginning to feel worried. Draco had never been away without explaining where he was or what he was doing, and the fact that she hadn't heard a word from him since before lunch had her stomach in knots.

She went through the motions, putting Scorpius to bed and retiring to her own bed, reading and trying to stay awake for Draco's arrival, but her eyes began getting heavy.

Hermione was startled awake by the bedroom door flinging open, so roughly it smashed the wall behind her. A book slid from her chest as she sat upright in bed, gripping the sheet and holding it to herself as if it were armour.

She relaxed immediately upon recognizing the blond hair, pale in the moonlight streaming into the room.

"Draco?" she asked, blinking her eyes furiously to rid them of sleep.

He didn't respond, but seemed to be stumbling over his feet as he entered their bedroom further. Hermione pushed her blankets off and swung her legs over the side of the bed, watching Draco closely and realizing, after he tripped while trying to kick off his shoes, that he was drunk.

She watched him warily, never having seen him inebriated before and unsure what to expect from him. Hermione hadn't spent much of her time drinking, and thought she had only been drunk a few times in her life. Harry was always goofy and hilarious, but Ron was angry and brooding when he was drinking, so she knew people reacted to alcohol in different ways.

Draco finally got his shoes off and started to unbutton his shirt, struggling as he tried to slip the tiny buttons through the holes and cursing aloud as he tried to pull his shirt from where it was tucked into his trousers. He finally shed the garment and seemed to realize that he had been making an excessive amount of noise, as he looked around the room warily and started when he saw Hermione sitting on the side of the bed watching him.

"Hermione," he breathed, finally meeting her eyes, and she could see that he was absolutely pissed. His eyes were red, the silver of his irises made more prominent from the colour, and his face looked pale and ruddy. He looked guilty suddenly, once the surprise of seeing her there wore off.

"What are you doing, Draco?" she asked firmly, but tried not to sound accusatory. "Where were you all night?"

"The pub," he answered, guilt sweeping across his features again. "I needed a bloody drink."

Hermione scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, trying to make his words out since he was slurring pretty heavily.

"Why did you need a drink?" She asked, watching him struggle with his belt.

"Why?" Draco asked in disbelief, and then started laughing. Hermione was distinctly unnerved, and she forced herself not to cringe away when he all but lunged toward her. The laughter died on his lips in a split second and he stared at her from mere centimeters away. "Why do you think?"

"I don't know, Draco," she answered calmly, genuinely confused.

He looked frustrated and seemed to realize his close proximity to his girlfriend, so he backed off a bit and continued removing his trousers, standing in front of her in only his boxer briefs when he finally got them off. Hermione sat still, watching him closely, trying to figure out why he suddenly felt the need to get wasted. He had seemed just fine until...

"It's because I made that deal with The Prophet, isn't it?"

Draco glared at her and she stared back, understanding now.

"You have given that awful newspaper exclusive rights to tell the Wizarding World everything going on in our lives and about our son." Draco's voice was slightly warbled and Hermione knew he was furious with her. "You didn't even ask me how I felt about it!"

Draco's voice rose to a yell, but he seemed to startle himself and lowered his voice again. "You didn't even stop to think about how I would feel about it; you carried along with the entire situation without even looking in my direction once. I don't have a choice now, but I never would have agreed to have Scorpius in any articles, ever. Don't you understand that he is a Malfoy and he will be hated, frowned upon for his existence, used against me?!"

Draco paced unsteadily throughout his rant, but he stopped directly in front of Hermione. He looked so uncertain that her heart was hurting for him; he was usually so collected and calm, but in that moment he was the complete opposite.

"I'm sorry," Hermione blurted the second he stopped in front of her, finally allowing her to speak. She hadn't realized it at the time, but Draco was right; she hadn't even considered consulting him about the deal. How could she have done that? She was going to carry on with her apology, but before she could continue Draco dropped to his knees and placed his head in her lap, gripping the outside of her thighs tightly in something resembling a hug. She was startled into silence, but her hand automatically went to his hair, running her fingers through the soft strands.

"I didn't want to do it," he said in a soft voice. "It was like I couldn't help myself. I've been so good, 'Mione, so good ever since I found out about my baby, but I couldn't help it."

"Help what?" Hermione asked. She wasn't sure what he was referring to.

"Drinking."

Something clicked into place, and Hermione's hand stalled for a moment as she remembered all the times Draco had been offered alcohol by her friends and quickly turned it down.

"Has this been a problem for a long time, Draco?" she asked, resuming playing with his hair as he held onto her even tighter. His emotions were all over the place, and he was well within his rights to be angry that she had made a deal with Rita Skeeter without even considering him, but the sudden change of topic had her feeling confused and a bit sad for him.

He nodded against her legs, and she felt like she was dealing with a child in that moment; a scared child who was worried about being punished. The silence was tense, but she asked anyway. "How long?"

Draco sniffled audibly and his voice was thick when he finally answered. "Since sixth year."

Hermione did everything in her power to keep from wincing. He had turned to alcohol at such a young age because of the trials he was put through when he was a teenager.

He backed away from her legs then, and gripped her hands tightly in his own. "I didn't know what else to do," he exclaimed, and Hermione was shocked to see that his face was wet with tears. "I had no one to talk to, no one cared about what I was being forced to do, not even Pansy, really. I was scared and alone, being forced to do terrible things..." and his voice broke.

Hermione could do nothing but grip his hands back as he knelt on the floor and sobbed in front of her. She felt her heart stutter, realizing that she really didn't know how Draco felt about everything he had gone through during the time of Voldemort. He had said he was sorry, of course, but they hadn't really had any deep or meaningful talks about it.

"I'm so sorry, Draco," Hermione whispered, finally pulling her hands free so she could pull him into a fierce hug. She wasn't sure whether she was apologizing for what she had done that morning or what he had gone through at the hands of the Death Eaters. Maybe it was just a general apology, but she was sincere with it. There was still so much she didn't know.

She held him until he quieted down, whispering for their house elf to bring her some Sobering and Sleeping potions.

"I'm a failure," he whispered into her curls. "I don't deserve you and Scorpius; I'm going to do nothing but ruin you both, you'll see. We have to submit to pictures and articles in the stupid Prophet and our child is going to be persecuted for who his father is and you're going to be outcasted."

"That's not true, Draco," Hermione assured, finally getting him off the floor and sitting on the bed. "People will see the real you and forgive everything."

He snorted inelegantly, wiping his reddened eyes with the backs of his hands. Hermione hovered over him, tucking him in carefully and running her hand through his hair again, before uncorking the Sobering potion. Draco took it obediently and Hermione waited until some of his colour returned, but he groaned almost immediately and held a hand to his forehead.

"I'm sure," Hermione stated, and Draco cracked open an eyelid to stare at her, his head pounding.

"I'm sorry," he said, managing to get the words out through clenched teeth. "I'll try to do better."

Hermione knew without his elaborating further that he was talking about his problems with alcohol.

"We can talk about it tomorrow," she decided, uncorking the sleeping potion.

"I love you," Draco said before knocking the second potion back. Hermione smiled and took the empty vial from his slackening hand, deciding to check on Scorpius since she was awake anyway.

Draco was asleep before she even left the bedroom.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

Draco awoke slowly, his memories from the night before surfacing slowly. Hermione had caught him coming home from the pub and he'd berated her for her fucking fiasco at the Prophet. Although he was still furious with himself, it was outweighed by gratitude for Hermione. Thank Nimüe she had forced those potions on him the night before.

He had never actually confronted someone who had hurt him, never face to face, and as he rolled out of bed without a headache, he knew it was probably one of the most mature things he'd done.

Too bad that little victory was immediately nullified by the fact that he had gone out drinking and broken his sobriety. Too bad he could only confront Hermione about how she'd hurt him when he was too far gone from the booze to make it an actual conversation.

He let out a breath and steeled himself for her anger; she was sure to be upset that he had abandoned her with Scorpius the night before just so he could drown himself in booze.

He left their bedroom and made his way down the hall, following the sounds from the kitchen. Hermione was humming something pleasant while she made a full English, and Scorpius was laying in a transfigured cot by the dining table, playing with his toys and cooing aloud.

"Good morning," Hermione greeted, and flashed a smile at him before turning back to the stove. Draco stared at her in surprise for a moment, watching her cook, before she turned back to him and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"I figured you'd be starving this morning, since I'm assuming you didn't eat lunch or dinner yesterday."

Draco nodded, caught off guard. He had expected anger and pity, and maybe even a bit of disgust. Not this.

Hermione pressed a mug of coffee into his hand and a kiss to his cheek, gesturing toward the table, where food was already laid out and being kept warm with a charm.

He accepted both and made his way to his seat, feeling wary. Maybe after she had fed him she'd tear into him about his behaviour.

Scorpius cooed loudly and Draco looked down at him fondly, watching as he learned hand eye coordination.

Hermione slid an empty plate in front of him and sat down opposite, beginning to serve herself and passing him the spoon for the beans when she was done with it.

"Are you feeling okay, today?" She asked gently, peering at him closely.

Draco met her eyes and nodded before continuing to load his plate. She let out a breath and he could feel her eyes on him.

"_Here it goes,_" he thought.

"Listen Draco," she began, and he felt his heart drop. She sounded so serious he was sure she was about to tell him she was leaving, that she couldn't and wouldn't be tied to a drunk and didn't want Scorpius exposed to him either.

"I feel that I really need to apologize for my actions yesterday." Draco's eyebrows shot up in utter shock. "I had no right to agree to things about Scorpius without getting your approval, and that was wrong of me. I'm so sorry I've hurt you the way that you've been hurt in the past; hurt you to such an extent you felt you had nowhere else to turn. From here on out I will never do something like this again, and you can take that as a promise."

Draco was completely caught off guard by the tears streaming down Hermione's face during her speech, she was truly upset about what she had done the day before. This was the last thing he had expected.

"I want you to know that if you ever feel that overwhelmed or unsure about something, you can talk to me about it. If you can refrain from liquor on your own, which you have done before as I've never seen you drink, I won't insist you seek help with the matter."

Draco set his fork down, as he had been almost frozen in shock previously and was gripping it in tight fingers.

"I appreciate it," he said slowly, thinking about everything she'd just told him. "I don't think I've ever gotten an apology before, you know? Not about something that means so much to me anyway. You're right. I was very upset with your actions yesterday, but going out to the pub afterward was weak and ridiculous, and I'm sorry as well, for putting you through that. You shouldn't have to be at home with Scorpius so I can be out getting pissed; that's unacceptable."

He stopped speaking for a moment, fidgeting with his napkin, but he was deep in thought.

"If it happens again, Hermione, I want you to promise you will take me to St. Mungo's and enroll me in rehab."

He said it so seriously that Hermione was looking at him in surprise.

"I would never forgive myself if I was drunk and something happened to either you or Scorpius, and this is why I want your word. Kicking it the first time was near impossible, but I did it, and I may be able to do it again, but if not, take me."

Hermione nodded, "I promise," she whispered, but looking closely he could see pride shining in her eyes. "I have faith in you though, Draco. You stopped drinking when you found out about Scorpius, and now that he's here and growing a little bit every single day, you can use that to keep yourself sober. Think about how much you'll miss of his life if you're too far gone to notice him or in rehab for months on end."

"I wouldn't miss anything in your lives for the world," he assured, but knew that sometimes, it wasn't that easy.

/

Narcissa Malfoy breathed a sigh of relief after finally leaving her husband in the care of the elves for the evening. He had returned from Azkaban that morning and his moping about was grating on her last nerve, causing her to force her personal house elf to spike Lucius' drink during dinner with a sleeping draught.

Sure, he had dealt with being in prison for five years, but he should have been happy that's all his sentence required; he had it easy compared to Narcissa's brother-in-law. Not only had he lost his wife in the battle, he was in prison for life.

Plus, she was already tired of listening to Lucius whine. He seemed to get more and more useless to her as the years wore on, and their ultimate failure was their son. They'd managed to mess a lot of things up throughout their lives, but he was their biggest mistake.

She had been thinking hard for the last few years her husband was locked away about how to carry on with their ideals. Clearly they would need to find a suitable leader in order to continue their campaign, and she had narrowed her ideas of who could manage down to a fairly short list.

Tom Riddle had the right ideas, but unfortunately went about everything in the wrong ways. He was not sneaky enough; he was a showboat, and that wouldn't (and for the most part, didn't) get people on board with their ideals. No. They'd need someone more subtle to take the "throne" as it was.

The Malfoy family had been aiding Voldemort since his days working at Borgin and Burke's, but he would not listen to reason when it came to changing the Wizarding World for the better. Narcissa needed someone who would listen to her ideas and implement them accordingly, she had attempted to be the brains of the entire organization, but Tom Riddle let the power get to his head.

It was a shame, really.

Lucius was not a candidate in her mind, he had listened to her briefly about following the Dark Lord in their early years of marriage, but really he was just a spineless man who bought his way through life. He didn't have a sensible thought in his head that wasn't placed there by her subtle nudges.

Draco was obviously out, since he was much too independent now; he didn't need her and wouldn't listen to her, anyway. He was completely brainwashed by that disgusting muggle girl, and unfortunately would most likely stick by her side.

Narcissa had no love for muggles; she'd taken part in disowning her own sister for dating a muggle in their teenage years and wouldn't bat an eye at doing the same with her son. If he wouldn't see reason and refused to join their cause he was no son of hers anyway.

Maybe she could adopt someone, whoever she chose to be in power, and start over. She was only in her 50's and wasn't even halfway through her life yet, it really wouldn't be that difficult.

Draco could take whatever fortune was left for him by his grandparents and stay out of their lives; his Mudblood and halfblooded son would be his new family.

Unless… maybe if they were to be eliminated from the board Draco would see reason and join them, come back to himself and realize the errors of his ways. He was so much like Lucius that Narcissa suddenly felt sure she could have her son wrapped around her finger again once his little family was gone. Especially if she were to threaten to adopt one of his friends to take the throne; the Nott boy would be a perfect candidate, and while he was an acquaintance of Draco's they were never really that close.

Jealousy ran a lot of Draco's emotions, and between the threat of another taking his place in the family and his mother's tears, she was sure he would come around.

The muggleborn and halfblood would need to be taken care of, but that was probably one of the easiest tasks for Narcissa to deal with in the immediate future.

But Theodore Nott… he was raised with the right ideals and had even attended meetings with the Dark Lord, joining his father. He had never been marked with a Dark Mark (a practice that Narcissa had demanded was idiotic, considering if someone was seen with one it would be a life sentence) but he had definitely been sympathetic with the cause.

Narcissa made her way to her private sitting room and pulled a notebook from deep within the drawers of her writing desk, taking a seat and regarding the book carefully. She cast the necessary spells to open it and flipped through the pages thoughtfully, going over the plans she had been working on for years and adding more potential prospects to the pages.

After she worked on that for a while she pulled out some blank parchment and made a to-do list for the immediate future.

First, she'd need to take care of Draco's family and do her best to entice her son back toward the Dark. She knew Dark Magic called to him, knew that once he got another taste he would start craving it again, but she needed him separated from his girlfriend and son before he'd even consider it.

She was going to try and keep Lucius in the dark about the disgusting little family Draco had put together while his father was incarcerated, but she was sure Lucius would ask about his son. Sooner or later.

If Draco wasn't susceptible to her ideals and charm, then she'd approach Theodore Nott.

There would be a new defection, a new group of people who would see that the world was not going to run properly with Mudbloods running about freely and pretending to be witches and wizards.

And it would go ahead whether Draco was on board or not. Narcissa had a way of taking care of things, and she honestly wasn't overly concerned about how to deal with her son.

He'd see the logical decision in time, and would come back to his mother begging for forgiveness for the sins he had committed while his father was in jail.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

Hermione was standing at the kitchen counter in one of Draco's button down shirts. She had taken to wearing them around the house early in the mornings while she got breakfast sorted and made sure Scorpius was clean and fed.

It had been weeks since Draco came home from the pub utterly pissed, and Hermione had been keeping a close eye on him. He knew she was paying attention, and despite the fact that she could tell he was still embarrassed about the whole affair, and that Hermione knew one of his secrets, he'd kept himself together.

He was more attentive to Scorpius, who was now able to sit upright for short periods of time and roll from his back to his belly. He was also starting to grip his own bottle, which made Hermione equally excited and sad; he was growing so fast.

Draco made sure he was the one to take Scorpius to his cot for at least one of his two daily naps, and Hermione always felt a fluttering in her chest when she could hear him cooing to the baby, getting him drowsy before placing him in his cot.

Scorpius was currently on the floor in the den and Hermione could hear him babbling gibberish to his toys as she refilled her coffee. Hermione could faintly hear Draco moving around in their bedroom, and got him a cup ready as well before making her way back to her son.

She had just entered the den when the fireplace flared the green of an incoming Floo and out strolled Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, as stiff and haughty as if they owned the place. Of course, she thought with exasperation, they couldn't possibly dare to stumble when exiting a Floo, not like every other witch or wizard on the planet.

Narcissa's face upon seeing Hermione immediately settled into a scowl, then glanced down her nose at the still babbling Scorpius a few steps away. Lucius's eyes widened comically upon seeing her standing in his son's penthouse, barely clothed with a steaming mug in her hands.

Draco chose that exact moment to make an appearance, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, his Dark Mark clearly displayed on his left forearm and his hair messy from rolling out of bed.

"Morning, love," he murmured, coming from the hallway and unable to see his parents right away. It didn't take him long, though, and he reeled back in surprise before stepping up beside Hermione.

"Mother, father," he greeted tersely, giving them a tight nod.

Hermione broke from her shock and hurried forward, gently picking up five month old Scorpius and hurrying back to Draco's side, doing everything in her power to shield the baby from his grandparents. Call her crazy, but she was sure this impromptu visit wouldn't bring anything good and she was feeling rather paranoid about Draco's family; Narcissa had made her feelings about her grandson clear and Hermione wasn't going to take any chances.

Narcissa raised her eyebrows, looking momentarily stunned at their state of dress, but it didn't take her long to draw her cold personality around her like a cloak.

"And this is the well-bred son I raised?" She sneered, glaring at Hermione's bared legs before flicking her cold eyes toward her son. "Perhaps it's for the best your bastard isn't a pureblood heir."

"It's our house," Draco said somewhat forcefully, his eyes narrowing in instant rage that he forced himself to reign in. He did not want to lose his temper in front of his son. "Good morning, Father, I hope you're recovering well from your stint in prison."

Lucius seemed confused, and Hermione could tell it was taking a moment for the entire situation to sink in. He looked different than her memory told her he ought; smaller, less frightening.

"Hello, son," Lucius responded, and his voice was meeker than anyone could remember. "I'm coming around, thank you."

An awkward silence settled on the group, Hermione still doing her best to keep her son out of Narcissa and Lucius' sightlines; she was uncomfortable from the scrutiny she was receiving and shifted Scorpius in her arms again.

"Why don't you take a seat and we will go make ourselves presentable," Draco suggested, giving his mother a significant look. "You see, we weren't aware of inviting guests this morning." He gestured to the couches and hurried Hermione and Scorpius from the room, feeling anxious.

Narcissa narrowed her eyes for a fraction of a second, hating the tone of Draco's voice. She could remember a time when he'd done everything she suggested without a second thought, treated her like a goddess and would never have considered being rude or hurtful to her.

"What are they doing here?" Hermione all but groaned when they were out of earshot.

"I have no idea," Draco answered, leaving Hermione to change Scorpius while he hurried to the chest of drawers to find a onesie for the baby. "They could have at least informed us they were coming. I suppose my mother thought we wouldn't have agreed after her last unexpected visit here."

Hermione clenched her jaw for a moment, remembering all too well how awful the last confrontation with Narcissa had been. She was expecting the visit today to be even worse, considering Lucius had joined her and Hermione and Draco didn't have any backup from their friends.

"Yes well, they're here now," She responded, buttoning up the front of Scorpius' onesie before picking him up and bopping their noses together. "We will just have to make the best of it, won't we my little baby boy?"

Scorpius laughed and flailed his arms spastically, causing both Hermione and Draco to smile at their son. They left the nursery and hurried into their own room to change quickly and make themselves presentable for the horror show that was about to commence.

They joined the elder Malfoys in the sitting room after hastily dressing, trying to ward off any extra ire from Narcissa for taking too long, but it was clear from the way she was perched on the edge of the couch with narrowed eyes that she was less than impressed.

Lucius seemed tired, leaning back into the couch. He was still sitting with a straight back, but he seemed quite diminished.

"Father, this is Hermione Granger -I'm sure you remember her - and our son, Scorpius."

Lucius blinked, looking completely dumbfounded.

"I have a grandson?" he asked, leaning forward and peering closer at the baby, who had been all but shielded from him when he first arrived. Now that he had been given the opportunity to look, though, it was more than clear that the baby possessed Malfoy traits; the blond hair and grey eyes were a dead giveaway.

"He's just five months," Hermione supplied, trying to show that she was not about to be intimidated by Draco's parents in her own home.

"How could you have kept this from me?" Lucius asked, turning accusing eyes to his wife. "I have been home for weeks, asking to see Draco, asking how he has been, and you never once mentioned that he gave us a grandchild."

Narcissa huffed and turned away from her husband, narrowed eyes honing in on Draco, who had moved closer to his girlfriend and son, and wrapped an arm around the former's waist.

"Because he is nothing to us," she said harshly. Hermione's heart sank and she felt Draco's arm tighten around her, clearly upset by his mother's proclamation. "He is a halfblood, Lucius, and his conniving mother a mudblood. He is no Malfoy."

"He is my son," Draco spat, his eyes darkening in anger. "I have told you before that I would not condone language like that in my household, especially not about my girlfriend and the mother of my child, and I will not stand for it." Draco did not raise his voice for the sake of keeping his son calm, but he was beyond outraged, and it was obvious from the look of utter disgust he was giving to his mother.

"If you continue this line of foolish behavior, Draco, you won't be a Malfoy much longer, either," Narcissa said coldly, rising from her position on the couch. "I have made myself perfectly clear about them. They will never be accepted into our family. You are the scion of centuries' careful breeding, generations of pureblood marriages chosen for their bloodlines, wealth, and influence. My family will not be tainted by your pathetic little attempt to play homemaker, and if you continue to disgrace yourself and our family like this then you will be disowned."

"That is not up to you," Lucius disagreed, struggling a moment before rising to his feet. Hermione thought he may have been resting on his cane a little too much, but his palpable anger lent him strength. "I am head of the Malfoy line, dearest Narcissa, and I will not disown my only child. I have made enough mistakes in the past due to your meddling and I shall not continue to err. Family is all we have left, and it's really all that matters in this world. I have learned plenty in the last five years, but that is the most important lesson - it's time to get over the past and move forward with us as a complete family unit."

Narcissa turned furious eyes from her husband to the rest of the room, glaring most at the innocent, wide-eyed baby in Hermione's arms.

"That is not a family," she said cruelly, "and certainly no relation of mine. The girl is a mudblood, by Merlin! I will never have them in my families lineage."

Narcissa had drawn up to her full height, and though she was shorter than her son and husband, she had quite a few inches on Hermione. She adjusted the cuffs of her robes and smoothed them down before turning to Draco.

"If you have not come to your senses, then you are nothing to me. Let me tell you right now: my patience is not boundless, and it is dwindling. Should you continue to embarrass this family with your madness, you will rue this day. For the last time I warn you. Dispose of them appropriately and in a timely manner, or force my hand. I will protect this family from the pollution you are so driven to introduce. Changes are nigh, Draco, and it is within your best interests to stand proud as what you are - a Pureblood, a respected member of the Sacred 28, and a wealthy eligible bachelor."

Draco was pissed, and his enraged face mirrored his mother's. "What changes?" he spat, hiding his confusion from her. She was clearly hinting at something that was bound to happen, he just had no idea what she was referring to.

"Just remember what I said," his mother answered, lip curled. She stalked toward the fireplace and stepped into the Floo.

Lucius patted his son on the arm. "I will not disown you, my boy, and there's nothing she can do about it. You are my son and she cannot change that. There will be no changes to the will; I am the head of the family. If I am to pass you will immediately be made head and have control of the entirety of the estate; that's the way it works."

Draco shook his head forlornly, feeling both outrageously angry and also a little sad. Why couldn't his mother just let go of her ridiculous old ideals and celebrate the lives they had now? It was insane that she was continuing on with a grudge against his girlfriend just because of her blood.

Draco could not understand how she had learned nothing from the previous war that was fought during his teenage years; he had almost died for his parents' cause, for Merlin sake. Apparently that didn't matter nearly as much as keeping blood prejudice alive and well, at least not to his mother, anyway.

Truth be told, if anyone in the room had grounds to be incandescently furious, it was Hermione. Once again Draco marveled at the strength of her character, the grace she displayed despite such provocation. Not only was she gravely insulted, but so was her son; she had managed to keep quiet and stand in the background while he argued viciously with his mother. She had managed to ignore the terrible insults being tossed from his mother's lips without reacting at all.

Hermione was just an all around amazing person, and his mother wasn't driving him away from the witch as she was hoping, but was actually pushing them closer together.

"I meant what I said, son," Lucius continued. "I have made too many mistakes in the past, have let you down too many times, and right now I just want to hear about my grandson." Lucius sat back down heavily, even though it seemed like he was trying to retain his gracefulness, and rested his cane against the side of the couch.

"Tell me, what is my grandson's name?"

/

"Well, that was just odd," Hermione said the second Lucius had disappeared into the Floo. After Narcissa left they'd actually managed to have a decent visit. Lucius had been extremely attentive to Scorpius. He'd even held him for a while, but he seemed to tire easily and so Hermione took the baby back and placed him on the floor to play.

Lucius watched with a small smile on his face as Scorpius rolled around on the carpet and gripped his toys, flailing them around while cooing loudly in his baby gibberish.

"I missed a lot of your babyhood," he had admitted to Draco sadly as he watched his grandson. "It would be a shame if I missed my grandson's as well."

"I honestly expected him to hate me and Scorpius even more than your mother does. I really had no idea he would stick around and get to know him. Us."

"It seems strange indeed… he may have been telling the truth about Azkaban, about how it had made him see what really mattered in this life. He seems genuinely remorseful about the past, and everything."

"Do you think he is… well?" Hermione asked carefully. She had to admit she was concerned about Lucius' health; he had tired quickly and seemed to have a tough time standing and walking.

"I think I should convince him to go to St. Mungo's for a checkup."

"No," Hermione growled, surprising Draco. "I will find a Healer who does house calls; if they treated me so horribly just for arriving with you I can only imagine how they would treat him."

Draco nodded thoughtfully before taking a dozing Scorpius from Hermione. The baby needed to get into his cot before he really fell asleep, so Draco hurried to the nursery, rocking his baby boy in his arms gently for a few moments. He couldn't help but gaze down into Scorpius' adorable face as he settled him onto the mattress, watching as his son gave a great, toothless yawn before his eyes fluttered closed.

His mother wasn't welcome in their home anymore, that was for sure. He wasn't positive about how to keep her out, as he preferred not to block Malfoy Manor from the floo. His father seemed too ill to take on any harder forms of travel and Draco didn't want to bar his father from their home if he was being civil. He had made terrible mistakes, yes, but it also seemed as though he had payed - was paying - the price for what he had done.

Draco sat in the glider in the nursery, deep in thought about his mother. He was trying to decipher what she meant about about changes and leaning on his Sacred 28 status. Did she mean changes in the Malfoy will, or something… more?

He could admit freely that his mother terrified him, and always had, really. The more he thought about it, the more he'd realized who pulled the strings around their home during his childhood, and he was apprehensive.

It literally took his breath away to think that the manipulation could have extended further than he could imagine - he could clearly remember being told by the Dark Lord that if he didn't complete his mission, his mother would pay. But… the more he thought about that day and pictured it in his mind, the more he realized his mother didn't exactly look frightened when Draco was informed of the consequences of failure.

Was that just another way to get him to do what was expected of him? Had his mother really had any say over what went on with the Dark Lord, or was he making things out to be more than they were?

He sighed, listening to Scorpius breath deeply in his sleep and wondering how anyone could hate a baby with as much venom as his mother hated his son.

Then another chill went down his spine, recalling that his father had said, "_I have made enough mistakes in the past due to your meddling,"_ \- so it would seem that she did at least hold some sway over the men in her life.

Draco shuddered, vowing to keep a closer eye on both his girlfriend and his son, he hoped it wouldn't come to it, but he could never be too sure how his mother would react to things, and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to either, or both of them.

Did she know something that no one else did? How far would she exert herself to follow through on her threats?

Hermione and Draco were both pretty homebound most of the time, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to get an ear out and see what was going on in the Wizarding World. His mother had seemed much too confident and much too satisfied about her threats for them to be idle.


	14. Chapter 14

**This chapter contains smut that took me entirely too long to write because I'm just an awkward human...**

**Chapter 13**

Draco had to go to work and sat through hours of boring meetings, agreeing with almost everything the business and financial advisors had been doing without him around; he always did, just to get away faster. He knew they weren't going to screw the company around and he hated being there, he always felt uncomfortable and judged, even by the people employed by him.

Draco couldn't get away fast enough at the conclusion of the final meeting, rushing to the elevators and out of the building so he could apparate home.

He entered the house and gave the air a tentative sniff, wondering what exactly it was that Hermione was trying to make for dinner. She had never been all that excellent at cooking, but she was trying to learn under the watchful eye of their house elf, Flippy, who had slowly given in to Hermione's requests to learn.

He would never say it aloud, but the smells wafting from the kitchen were much too mouthwatering to be Hermione making the meal.

He noticed the house was rather dim, most of the lights coming from candles placed strategically so they made a path, and Draco assumed he was supposed to follow it.

He did so, a smirk playing on his features as he hoped what he had in mind was correct. He and Hermione hadn't really ever been overly romantic, what with going from friends to parents to lovers fairly quickly, and they always had Scorpius around, which didn't give them a lot of free time to explore the more romantic and sexual side of their relationship. They generally opted for quick romps that they could easily get away with while Scorpius was napping.

He loosened his tie as he followed the candles down the corridor past the kitchen and toward their bedroom. He was unbuttoning his cuffs as he slowly pushed the door open, thrilled to see that his suspicions were correct and Hermione was splayed out on their bed atop the duvet, resting against the pillows. Her hair was splayed out tantalizingly against the white pillowcases, and she was looking at him with half-lidded eyes. He barely noticed, however, as he took in her clothing, or lack thereof.

He let out a little puff of air as his eyes followed the path of her hand, starting from her collarbone, her eyes smoldering. She didn't say a word as she swept it lower, touch light as a feather across the tiny silky teddy she wore, and stopped to cup her breast, her thumb gliding across her nipple as she gasped; Draco could see the material puckering outward as her nipple hardened and he swallowed hard.

Hermione didn't stop there, though, and her hand continued lower, skimming over her flat stomach, the material sheer and allowing him to see the faintest hint of her golden skin beneath. She was wearing a small pair of knickers and stockings that were attached to garters, and Hermione toyed with the top of her knickers before quirking her lips, raising her eyebrows at him suggestively, and dipping her hand below.

Draco's mouth was dry.

He couldn't take it anymore and quickly shrugged out of his suit jacket, laying it across the back of the chair beside him before he tugged his tie off completely and shoved it in his pocket. He had his shirt unbuttoned and laying with his jacket before kicking his shoes off and approaching Hermione slowly, a smirk on his face.

She was still watching him, but her breathing had changed from deep even breaths to panting, and he could see her hand moving below her knickers.

He approached the bed and didn't say a word, just stood over her for a few moments as he watched her pleasure herself, her gaze boring into his as she struggled to keep her eyes open. He let out another gust of air before biting his lip and joining her, kneeling in front of her between her spread calves.

He expected her to shy away, maybe be a little bit embarrassed about what she was doing, but she seemed emboldened by his actions and brought her other hand up to play with her nipple again. All the while, she watched him.

Draco reached out slowly and plucked at her other nipple, rubbing it lightly when it puckered out, the silky fabric of her wicked little outfit leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

"It looks like you've been a naughty girl while I was gone," he started, his voice hoarser than he expected.

"So naughty," she replied breathlessly, more than happy to experiment with him.

"Naughty women deserve to be punished, don't they Hermione?" he asked, and she nodded emphatically, causing him to all but groan aloud.

Quick as a snitch he leaned forward and pulled her toward him, flipping her around so that her bare arse was on display and she was laid over his lap. Her wrists were in his right hand, held tightly together in his grip while he grasped his wand in his left and waved it silently. His tie slipped from his pocket and wound itself around her wrists, not too tight to cut off the circulation, but tight enough. It knotted itself and at the exact same moment Draco brought a hand down onto Hermione's bare arse, causing her to squeak in surprise.

He rubbed it lightly before swatting her again, but this time she moaned in delight. She found herself disjointedly thinking about how good it felt to be bad. Her and Draco had indulged themselves with plenty of sex throughout their relationship, but they'd never done anything even slightly daring. She was happy to find that she liked it.

He only swatted her a few more times, her knickers growing suspiciously damp, before he lifted her from his lap and placed her into her original position. He waved his wand again, and this time she was bound to the headboard, her arms spread wide.

Draco leaned forward and traced a long finger across the inside of her thigh, dipping his finger beneath the elastic of her knickers. He grinned at her then.

"You're positively soaking," he whispered gruffly, and Hermione felt her cheeks flame.

Draco pulled his hand from her knickers and rubbed two of his fingers against his thumb, showing her exactly how wet she was, and her cheeks flamed brighter. He raised an eyebrow as he brought the digits to his lips, groaning at the taste as he popped them into his mouth.

Hermione moaned aloud, watching him taste her so blatantly was doing things to her that she had never experienced before, especially since they had yet to do anything majorly sexual.

Draco grinned at her, the look in his eyes nothing short of predatory as he reached down and popped the hooks on her teddy open, revealing her soft skin to himself slowly, and once it was completely undone he pulled the strapless garment from beneath her body and tossed it to the side. He ran a finger down the newly exposed flesh and grinned at her again before dipping his head and latching onto one of her peaked nipples with his lips, rolling it between his lips and teeth as Hermione's breath hitched above him.

He switched to the other nipple, his erection straining against his trousers uncomfortably as she let out a guttural moan, her hips subtly bucking into him. He grinned against her nipple and backed away slowly, hooking his thumbs beneath the elastic of her tiny knickers and pulling them down her legs slowly as he retreated down the bed. He stood at the bottom and stared at her for a moment, her damp knickers hanging from his pointer finger as he took her in.

She was so gorgeous, especially with her wrists bound to the headboard and her eyes consuming him, pulling him into their depths.

He quickly divested himself of his remaining clothes, and then they were both naked, Hermione eyeing his erection with something akin to desperation. Draco had other ideas though, and crawled back onto the bed before he dropped his head to her thighs and began peppering them with little kisses, causing Hermione to moan aloud.

When he pushed her legs up and clamped his lips around her clit she was all but crying out, begging him, but he knew what she wanted a denied her his fingers.

"Please, Draco," she gasped, wrenching at her bindings, but he didn't relent for a few more moments. He sat back up and dropped her legs, wondering to himself how far he could push this. She seemed to be enjoying the fact that she couldn't use her hands, the loss of it exciting her, but he wasn't sure if he should do what he was thinking about. He desperately wanted to crawl the rest of the way up the bed and shove his erection into her mouth, down her throat, but he didn't want to frighten her. This was the first time they had done something like this and he figured he should ease her in, let her get used to the pleasure he could bring her as he dominated her, but slowly.

He was absentmindedly playing with her nipple as he thought to himself, and Hermione was wondering what in the hell he was doing. He was looking at her strangely, making her feel almost uncomfortable, but he snapped out of it after a moment and grinned at her again.

She smiled back, a little unsure, but as he settled himself back between her thighs, his lips replacing his fingers on her nipple, the strange moment all but flew from her mind.

He thrust into her heat quickly, causing them both to groan out, and Hermione was suddenly wishing she could touch him. Clutch him. He pulled back almost all the way before shoving forward again, Hermione letting out a satisfied moan as he pushed himself as deep into her as he could go in the position they were in.

Draco was keeping up a steady pace and Hermione was morning almost continuously as she tried to rock her hips to meet his thrusts. Their bodies were rubbing together, her nipples scraping against his chest with every surge forward he made, and she was loving every second of it.

Draco pulled himself from her suddenly and lifted her by the butt, impaling himself again just as quickly, and from this position Hermione could feel him deep within her body, causing her to cry out with the pleasure - the periphery feeling of pain making things that much better. She was basically in his lap, his knees almost touching the headboard she was suspended from, his body thrusting into her roughly from below.

From the angle he was at, Draco was able to get in the deepest he had ever been, bottoming out against her cervix, and without warning Hermione was suddenly keening and calling his name, her body clutching at him and pulling in him.

He had no control over his own orgasm as it ripped from him; her clutching body had pulled him over, and he was spasming madly as he released his seed. Hermione's body continued gripping him until it was almost uncomfortable, and he dropped his head onto her collarbone to catch his breath. She was breathing so hard he was worried she'd pass out, but she started to control it after a moment.

"Wow," she whispered, once she was breathing normally again.

Draco lifted his head and grinned at her, then remembered she was still tied to the headboard. He reluctantly shuffled away from her, pulling himself from her body as he lifted her from his lap, shifting himself so he could reach his wand.

He undid the binds and she let out another breath, this one sounding relieved, and she rubbed her wrists.

Draco noticed they were reddened and quirked his lips, an odd feeling of possessiveness flitting through him, before he took them into his hands and whispered a soothing spell.

Hermione smiled at him and they laid side by side for a while, Draco trailing his elegant fingers over her stomach lightly.

"What was this all for, anyway?" he asked. "And where's Scorpius?"

"This was a date night and Scorpius is with Harry and Ginny, but I have to pick him up soon. I didn't realize the sex part was going to last so long, so we might have our son here for the dinner part."

Draco laughed before he got to his feet. "Then we best shower before we go relieve poor Potter from his babysitting duty."

Hermione grinned and took his hand, following him into the bathroom.

/

Harry Potter never really thought that he would like anything that had to do with Draco Malfoy, but it would be absolutely impossible for him to admit that Scorpius Malfoy was not one of the cutest damned babies he had ever spent time with.

Obviously he wasn't as adorable as his own son, James, but he was loathe to admit that it was a close call.

Scorpius was just so well behaved, considering he was just over 6 months old. He was currently on his hands and knees rocking back and forth, and Harry wondered if he was getting ready to crawl already.

If he crawled in front of him before his parents Harry was fairly certain either Hermione or Draco would punish him for the rest of his life; or maybe they would hatch a diabolical plan together and ruin him.

"Don't start crawling, please, Merlin," he whispered as Scorpius tentatively pushed a hand further forward. Harry could imagine Hermione purposely taking James places and doing things with him for the first time until he was an adult himself, taking a perverse type of pleasure out of ruining the 'firsts' of James' life for Harry.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, standing by the door and giving him an odd look. "You've been staring at the floor for almost 3 minutes."

"Were you timing me?" Harry asked incredulously, glancing toward his wife. James was napping and the house was silent but for the incessant babbling Scorpius was doing. Harry figured he'd be talking within a couple months, which wasn't surprising considering how often his mother droned on about anything and everything; and of course the child of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy would be a damned prodigy.

Ginny quirked her lips into a side smile before nodding and asking the question again.

"Honestly, I'm praying to Merlin that Scorpius doesn't start crawling at our house with fear of the vengeance both Hermione and Draco would dole out."

Ginny giggled and sat next to him, leaning into him and letting out a soft sigh.

"Having Scorpius here makes me realize how much I miss James being a baby," she admitted after watching the Malfoy heir give up on a crawling and drop onto his belly before promptly rolling onto his back, babbling to himself. "They just grow so quickly."

"They really do," Harry agreed, understanding what his wife was trying to say between the lines. "I think I'm ready for another, as well," he admitted.

"Really?" Ginny asked, perking up. "There's an opening at the Prophet for a sports journalist, and I was thinking lately that I'm about ready to give up my quidditch career. I love it, but it takes me away from my family too often, which writing wouldn't do since I'd mostly be able to work from home, and the whole family could attend the necessary quidditch games with me."

"You would be okay with that?" Harry asked in surprise, Ginny loved her career with the Holyhead Harpies, and he wasn't expecting her to want to give it up after only playing with them for four years. Not even, if you took into consideration her maternity leave when James was born. She had technically still been on the team during her pregnancy, but was obviously benched and just there for moral support.

"I'm ready," she said with a nod, smiling as Scorpius rolled again, bringing him closer to the couple on the couch.

"Me too," Harry breathed, feeling so happy that he thought his heart might burst.

/

Narcissa Malfoy was seated on a stiff and uncomfortable looking settee, sipping from a dainty china mug as she assessed the boy across from her.

True to her word, she had asked Theodore Nott around for tea and finger sandwiches so she could discuss the idea of him taking up the role of the next Lord of Darkness.

"I just don't believe in those ideals anymore, Lady Malfoy, in fact, I'm not sure I ever did. They were shoved down my throat from birth and I was fairly accepting of them before we went to school, but sitting back and watching all the muggle-born students learn the same things as the Purebloods and master them with the same efficiency was eye-opening. I'm sorry, but I'm not the one you're looking for."

She was not expecting the son of Thatcher Nott to turn her down; he had seemed like the perfect candidate. It also didn't escape her notice that he referred to mudbloods by their more accepted title and the fact that he was saying they were just as adept as Purebloods was utterly disgusting; especially because he seemed to believe it was true.

"What would Draco think of this, anyway?" The young man continued, looking at her with something akin to confusion. "These plans would see to it that his girlfriend and son were murdered, Lady Malfoy. Surely you wouldn't allow that to happen."

Narcissa hid her pursed lips behind her cup of tea, but the flash of annoyance in her eyes was still witnessed.

Theo closed his eyes for a moment as a look of horrified realization crossed his features. "You wish for it to," he said. He understood now, for the most part. Narcissa wasn't ready to accept a muggleborn Daughter-in-law and half-blood grandson. She wanted them gone.

"I'm sorry, but no," Theo stated in a hard voice, getting to his feet. "I refuse to hurt Draco in such a way, he's finally happy. I'm having a hard time understanding why you would approach one of his friends with this plan… or maybe you didn't realize how close we are. Either way, I want no part in this. I don't fancy destroying one of my friends lives and ending up in Azkaban for the trouble; you'll have to find someone else."

Theo made no mention of letting her little plan out, but Narcissa knew better. The boy looked like he was ready to run from the room, and he would undoubtedly tell Draco and probably the authorities of her still prejudiced ideals; something that wouldn't be taken lightly.

She sighed and set her cup of lukewarm tea to the side, calling for her own personal house elf as she got to her feet. Theodore Nott towered above her, but she wasn't intimidated. He was clearly just as spineless as her own son, and she knew how to handle young men who lacked in a backbone and proper ideals.

"Yes Mistress?" her loyal elf asked as he materialized into the room.

Theo was almost to the door when it squelched shut with an obvious Colloportus charm, and he raised an eyebrow before turning back to Narcissa Malfoy, a question on his lips. The only sound that escaped was a guttural moan of pain before he dropped to his knees, cracking them off the stone floor before tipping to his side, the sound of the muttered spell catching him entirely off guard.

"Crucio."


	15. Chapter 15

**AN - I know this is much later than everyone is used to, but I am juggling a million different things at the moment and appreciate everyone's patience! I will post whenever I have something ready, but I can't make any promises as to how often that will be. Don't worry, though! I will not leave this story unfinished!**

**Chapter 14**

Hermione was about ready to give up on finding a healer who would willingly assess Lucius Malfoy. She had contacted every healer in Britain she could find about doing home calls, and they all seemed interested until they learned who they'd be treating.

She sighed as she came to the conclusion she'd have to bring someone in from a different country. It would be pricey, but Draco had money, and she knew he'd want to do whatever was necessary to help his father. As far as she could tell, Lucius was not getting better since leaving Azkaban; he was relying more and more on his cane and said strange things at odd times.

She was seated in her brewing room, and had just been dragging a fresh piece of parchment toward herself to start a new list of possible help when her floo sounded. She made her way to the front room and was surprised to see Ginny standing in front of the large fireplace. Her friend was grinning like a mad woman and Hermione stared at her in wonder.

"We sold Grimmauld Place!" She exclaimed, punching the air enthusiastically. Hermione knew they had wanted to get rid of the depressing house for years, but her jaw still dropped in surprise.

"Really?!"

"No need to look so sceptical," Ginny commented with a grin. "Apparently there are people out there who think it's 'homey' and 'adorable'. Clearly nutters, but who am I to judge?"

"When do you have to be out by?" Hermione asked curiously as she led Ginny to the kitchen, putting on the kettle for some tea.

"We have a couple of months, which is great since we have no idea where we're going to live."

Hermione snorted, "that could be a problem."

"I'm sure we'll find something," Ginny said dismissively. "We're going to start looking this weekend. I'm so excited to be out of that depressing house, and I want a large yard for James and any other children we have. That is one thing I miss about the Burrow; the land. We had spent so much of our time outdoors as children and I don't want my son to be cooped up in the house all the time."

Hermione nodded. She had been thinking along the same lines lately, in the sense that she wanted a house with a yard for Scorpius. They lived in a penthouse and had literally zero outdoor space, and while it was fine for now, since Scorpius was just starting to learn to crawl, it would be nice to have more land when he was older.

"Where's Scorpius?" Ginny questioned, seemingly just realizing they were alone. "and Draco, for that matter."

"They went over to visit with Blaise and Pansy, and then we all had plans to meet up for dinner tonight."

"Why didn't you go?"

"I've been brewing for the Cure-A-Torium since early this morning, and Draco took Scorpius to give me some distraction-free time. I'm done brewing for now, though, and I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to find a Healer interested in helping Lucius."

"Still no luck?" Ginny asked with a sympathetic look, accepting the cup of tea Hermione passed her.

"Nope," she answered, popping the 'p' with her lips.

She was just taking a seat when the floo roared to life again, but they were not expecting a frantic Harry to come running out.

"What is it?!" Hermione asked, pushing away from the table. Her heart was in her throat and she immediately assumed something had happened to either Draco or Scorpius, since the look on Harry's face was nothing short of horrified.

"Theodore Nott."

/

Ron Weasley kissed Lavender and his daughter, Rose, goodbye that morning. Quidditch season was about to start again and he wanted to stop into the Auror office while he had the chance. He couldn't play professional Quidditch forever, and he didn't think it would hurt to be in good standing with the Ministry.

He would normally floo straight to Harry's office, but that particular morning he wanted to stop by a specialty cafe in Diagon Alley to pick up some coffee and treats for the Auror team.

He made sure to buy Harry his favourite brand of donut - treacle topped - and Jacob, the Head Auror, his Earl Grey tea. For everyone else he just got an assortment of breakfast pastries and regular coffees. He was carrying a large box filled to the brim with everything he bought and had apparated near the entrance to the visitor phone booth, where he would promptly dial 62442, but stopped when he saw something odd.

There was a strange lump on the ground, and since it was fairly early for many visitors to be at the Ministry, no one else had seen it. He approached it warily, but dropped the box of fresh baked goods and brewed coffee in surprise when he realised exactly what it was he was looking at.

It was a person.

He abandoned the box of treats and rushed forward, rolling the person onto their back carefully from the fetal position he was hunched in and checked for a pulse. It was there, but faint, and Ron jumped into action.

He sent a Patronus directly to the Auror department that he was going to visit, the Jack Russell Terrier bursting from his wand and streaking away. He then put up a few wards that Hermione had taught him years ago to keep themselves hidden from any prying eyes, especially from muggles.

The head Auror, Jacob, popped into existence beside Ron moments later, clearly having understood the urgency of the Patronus. A couple other Auror's, Harry included, arrived a moment later, all looking surprised by the scene in front of them.

"Who is it?" Jacob asked, taking in the scene. The body was so covered in blood that it was hard to make out any defining features. The Head Auror cast a 'Tergeo', causing the excess blood to disappear, and both Harry and Ron gasped, recognizing the man lying broken and huddled into himself on the ground.

"Shit," Harry swore, at the same time that Ron informed the other Auror's it was Theodore Nott.

"Colin, please take him to St. Mungo's immediately, Harry, inform any next of kin that he has been found, apparently tortured. Noah and Charlie, inspect the scene and bring me anything you find, including any magical signatures."

"His father is in Azkaban," Harry said quickly, saying that Theodore Nott didn't really have any next of kin. "I do know a couple of his close friends though."

"Inform them, then, and tell them to get to the Ministry as soon as possible. We will have questions for everyone he is close to so we can understand what's going on here; if his father is a Death Eater it could be retribution, but we won't jump to any conclusions.

Harry nodded and apparated back to his office so he could hurriedly floo to Hermione and Draco's flat.

Ron watched in a state of shock as Colin gripped the hand of Theo Nott and disapparated, but he snapped out of it and decided to follow him for the moment. He wasn't an Auror, but he felt like he needed to see Theodore at least be admitted to St. Mungo's.

Ron appeared out of thin air outside of Purge and Dowse Ltd. and stepped through the large glass window of the derelict department store, seconds behind Colin, who was hovering Theodore beside him. Ron listened to Colin explain a quick rundown of the situation to the Welcome Witch, and they both followed along behind the Healer's in their lime green robes as they took the man opposite the Welcome Witch's desk, to the Emergency Department.

/

Hermione looked stricken, her eyes widening as Harry explained how Ron had found Theo's tortured body while he was making his way to the Ministry for a visit, and while he didn't know any details he did know that the young man had been seriously injured.

"I need to get Draco!" she exclaimed, shocked by the turn of events.

"Where is he?" Harry asked, peering around in confusion.

Hermione explained that he was with Pansy and Blaise, and Harry nodded while letting out a sigh of relief. "Bring them too, we need to question anyone who is close to Theodore so we can figure out what happened. Any information is good information, at this point."

Hermione nodded, already hurrying toward the floo, before she stopped and suggested that Harry also contact Daphne Greengrass, as they were also fairly good friends.

Harry thanked her for the information and hastily disapparated moments before Hermione disappeared through the fire.

"I'll just wait here then," Ginny said to the now empty room as she took another sip of tea and lounged back in her seat, wondering if Hermione was going to bring her Scorpius or not.

/

Hermione tumbled through the floo and arrived in Blaise and Pansy's reception hall. She called out and hurried through the halls, letting out a relieved breath when she found her boyfriend and their friends in the sitting room, sipping cups of tea.

Draco took one look at her and knew that something was wrong, as she was shaking and pale. He set his teacup down and got to his feet, questioning her.

"It's Theo," she informed them, moving into Draco's arms and peering up into his eyes. "He was found tortured no more than an hour ago and has been taken to St. Mungo's. We all need to go in for questioning at the Ministry."

"What?!" Pansy yelled, jumping to her feet. Her scream startled Scorpius, who was on his hands and knees on the floor, causing him to fall onto his belly roughly and start wailing.

Hermione hurried forward and picked the baby up in shaking arms. "That's all I know," she admitted. "Harry came through the floo looking positively frantic and told me what was going on; he's back at the Auror office waiting for us. Or maybe he went to get Daphne. I'm not sure."

"Why would someone hurt Theo?" Blaise asked, his eyebrows drawn together with apparent confusion. Hermione breathed out deeply through her nose and shook her head, holding Scorpius tightly as his cries got lighter.

Draco was paler than usual, making him appear almost waxy as his eyes met hers. A thought flitted through his brain, but before he could catch it and make sense of it everyone was heading toward the floo room, wanting to get to the Auror offices and receive information as quickly as they could.

"Is he going to make it?" he asked Hermione softly, looking pained.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Apparently it's bad."

Draco's eyes widened before he pushed Hermione and his son toward the floo. "I'll be right behind you."

/

Hermione was waiting for Draco, Pansy, and Blaise to be finished with their questioning before they left to St. Mungo's. She wasn't close enough with Theodore to be questioned about anything, so she held Scorpius tightly on her lap and waited.

She was sitting outside of the interrogation rooms, listening to the quiet talking of Auror's making it's way down the long corridor. She wasn't in the least bit surprised to see people glancing at her and Draco from the corners of their eyes when they arrived, as she and Draco had managed to keep Scorpius out of the limelight for the most part. Any information that was given to the Daily Prophet due to their deal was mainly about her and Draco's lives, as she had made it clear that the children weren't going to be used to sell papers.

Scorpius was squirming in her arms, desperately wanting to be let down. He was babbling and flailing, and Hermione finally got tired of dodging his chubby arms and set him onto the floor, getting to her feet so she could follow him around. He couldn't exactly crawl yet, but he was still shockingly adept at moving around, whether it be rolling or doing an odd army crawl thing.

He squealed happily upon being released and immediately got himself onto his hands and knees, rocking back and forth like usual, trying to build up the confidence to actually shift his weight.

Hermione grabbed the diaper bag that was permanently attached to either her or Draco's shoulder whenever they left the house and moved about five feet in front of Scorpius, trying to tempt him to crawl to her. He looked indecisive for a moment, pushing a hand further out, and then seemed to give it up all together and moved so he was sitting on the floor, grinning a toothless smile at her.

Hermione smiled and dug through the diaper bag, pulling out a small rattling toy and shaking it toward him.

"Come on, baby, come get your toy," she singsonged, and grinned when Scorpius again got into crawling position.

Before he could even make a decision about whether he was going to go toward his mummy and the rattling toy or sit back down, two large men entered the hallway.

Hermione looked up at them when they entered the room and noted the sour looks on their faces. She didn't know who they were, which meant they were not a part of the Auror force and had no business being in the corridor she was in.

"Well, well, what 'ave we got 'ere?" the larger of the two said, his voice low and menacing.

Hermione moved to Scorpius quickly, hauling him up into her arms and snuggling him against her chest, a blanket thrown over him for good measure in a matter of seconds.

"I honestly didn't want to believe it, what the papers were saying," the smaller, yet still huge man answered. "Couldn't keep Krum or Potter, so you started spreading those thighs for the Death Eater, eh? I always knew you were a galleon-scrounging bint, but this really tops the pasty."

Hermione was instantly angry, shaking with rage at the comment, but she tried to keep herself in check since she was holding her son. She held her head high and narrowed her eyes at the two men in front of her.

"If you don't have anything intelligent to say I'd advise you to just move along," she said, her voice surprisingly calm and dismissive.

"I think you're a little Death Eater's whore, and since you couldn't keep hold of any of the legitimately famous men in your life, you decided to go for the infamous instead. How's that for intelligent, you little bitch?"

"And what's this?" the larger of the two men asked before reaching forward and snatching the protective covering from where Scorpius lay quietly in her arms. "Another disgusting Death Eater in the making."

Scorpius was looking up with his large grey eyes, the spitting image of his father, and Hermione's blood boiled.

"Leave my son out of this," she hissed, clutching him tighter. "If you think that I, a muggleborn, would ever have a child with someone who believes in Death Eater propaganda or allow my son to be raised hearing that filth, you're more insane than you let on."

Her words didn't seem to make any difference, and the largest man reached out a huge, meaty hand. "Let's 'ave a look at your whore spawn, then, the Death Eater in the making," the man growled, and his large hand clamped around Scorpius' tiny arm.

"Here now, what's this fuss? Alright, Hermione?"

For once in his life, Ron Weasley was right on time. He was looking at the group with something akin to dawning comprehension, but the man let go of Scorpius' arm just as quickly as he had latched onto it. Seeing another person in close proximity had obviously stopped him from bodily harming Hermione and Scorpius.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief and turned to Ron, handing Scorpius to him with a muttered plea that they go to a more populated area, quickly, if you please.

"Go on then, minx. He ent got as much gold as the Malfoy boy, but 'e is famous... Advise you to drown that Death Eater spawn whilst you 'ave the chance, Sir."

Something in Hermione snapped. Before Ron could open his mouth, the loud man had stepped back, clutching a red patch on his face where she had slapped him soundly. With a firm grip, Hermione pulled both men down to her level by the ears, ignoring their squeals of pain.

"Listen here, you filthy-mouthed louts. Don't ever touch, speak to, look at, or mention my son again. If you even think about it, go to Flourish and Blotts and ask to see Marietta Edgecombe. My hexing has only improved from my school days, boys, and I won't tolerate anyone going after my family."

She released them with a shove, turning on her heel toward a shell-shocked Ron, still holding her sweetly cooing son.

"And what's this? Empty threats, miss? You didn't even reach for your wand. Probably a filthy squib."

Hermione laughed over her shoulder, and both men were suddenly wary. "What makes you think I need a wand to hex you?" she asked. "Are you ready, Ron? I really don't want to be late."

"What the bleeding hell was that?" Ron asked as they turned the corner and Hermione stopped, taking Scorpius back.

She perked her ears when she heard painful gasps, followed by the two men hurrying down the corridor the same way they'd come. Hopefully they looked in a mirror sometime soon and could see the words splayed out on their foreheads.

"Nothing to worry about. I thought you were with Theo at St. Mungo's?" Hermione questioned as they leaned against the wall and waited for Draco, who obviously hadn't heard any of the commotion. Then it dawned on Hermione that obviously the interrogation rooms had silencing charms on them.

"I just followed Auror Colin there, making sure Theodore was seen promptly. I thought I'd come back after having a quick lunch to see whether Harry needed to ask me any questions. I saw Head Auror Jacob getting there as I was leaving, he's probably trying to get some grip on what happened. Glad I arrived back here when I did, though."

"I would have been fine," Hermione answered snootily, but then smiled and thanked him anyway.

Just then Draco finally came out of the interrogation room, Harry close behind, and asked her if she was ready to go. He told her that he had told Blaise and Pansy to just meet them at St. Mungo's before they were all placed in separate rooms, so they could leave as soon as she was ready.

She smiled and agreed, informing Ron that they were headed over to see Theodore, but they'd like everyone to come over on the weekend for dinner.

"I have to go house hunting," Harry reminded.

"Then come after, I'm sure you'll be famished after looking at different homes all day anyway."

Harry grimaced and Draco took her free hand, the other supporting Scorpius on her hip. The baby waved 'bye bye' to Harry and Ron and the family made their way out of the Ministry.


End file.
